Dozens displaced after 3-alarm fire at Bellevue apartment complex

A fire at Central Park East Apartments in Bellevue Tuesday has left dozens of families in need of shelter.

The Bellevue Fire Department said 56 units are in the building that burned and none of the people who live there will be able to return at this time, KIRO 7 notes . The department added 21 of those units are destroyed so those people will have to find new places to live. It added that the roof of the building collapsed.

No injuries or fatalities have been reported and no one had to be transferred to the hospital, the department said, according to KING 5.

Bellevue Fire said that as soon as the first crews got on the scene, they upgraded it to a 3-alarm fire, and called in more resources from surrounding areas.

The department reported on its Facebook page Tuesday Eastside Fire & Rescue, based in Issaquah, Kirkland Firefighters and the Redmond, Fall City and Mercer Island Fire Departments all were on the scene of the fire.

Bellevue Fire Cares was there to help those impacted by the fire.

“Having somebody who just speaks your language just to even help explain what’s going on is a calming factor and we’re just trying to be here to fill the gap and provide some calming factor for folks that we can,” Natasha Grossman, the program manager for Bellevue Fire Cares, said, according to KIRO 7.

The American Red Cross is helping those impacted find shelter, KIRO also reported.

Bellevue Fire first posted about the blaze on social media, including on X, formerly known as Twitter, shortly after 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Crews on scene of an active multi-family structure fire at 152nd AVE NE and. NE 16TH ST. PIO en route. Updates to follow. pic.twitter.com/eQK0Obw4Th

— Bellevue Fire Dept (@BvueFD) August 22, 2023

The fire’s cause has not yet been confirmed.

Contributing: KIRO 7