SeaTac house fire leaves 1 person dead and 1 injured

One person is dead and another injured, after a two-alarm fire that spread to two homes in SeaTac.

The flames broke out around 11:15 p.m. Saturday, at a home on S.187th Street, a block north of S. 188th Lane and about one-quarter of a mile east of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac Airport).

“We got multiple reports of flames coming from the backside of the house from numerous reporting parties, both driving along the street as well as neighbors,” Division Chief and Public Information Officer for Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority Pat Pollak said.

Arriving crews found flames shooting from the house. The fire was burning so hot, it had spread to a neighbor’s house to the east.

The intense flames led fire crews to take a defensive stance, fighting the fire from the exterior. Eventually, they went on the offensive, and were able to go inside, attacking it from the interior.  They also launched an initial search for possible victims.

Firefighters wearing protective gear and equipped with oxygen masks did the first search, but did not find anyone.

“The primary search is a real quick search,” Pollak said. “The secondary search is a little bit more of a thorough search. We eventually found one person deceased just outside the back door of the residence. They had just made it outside of the structure. Our hearts go out to, and our thoughts and prayers are with, the family that lost their loved one …”

Pollak said a second person in home made it out on their own and was suffering from some sort of medical issue. It’s unclear if the medical issue was a direct result of the fire or triggered by the trauma.  Medics transported that person to a local hospital.

It took crews about 45 minutes to put out the flames. The flames that spread to a house next door only did exterior damage to that home. They did not spread inside. Crews called out the second alarm, due to the involvement of the second house and the search for possible victims.

“Once we know that we have a second house that is either involved or likely to be involved and we need more resources to protect those houses, then we would call for a second alarm,” Pollak said. “Additionally, knowing that there was a report of one person still inside, we knew that we were going to need more resources. So it was a combination of the fact that we had an exposure house that was compromised, as well as a rescue.”

The response to the fire included several agencies, including airport fire crews from the Port of Seattle, King County Fire District Two, South King Fire and Rescue and King County Medic One.

Volunteer fire cadets serving in Zone Three also assisted. That’s a program for young people, ages 16 to 20, who may have an interest in becoming firefighters.

“They will bring out an apparatus that has an air compressor on it for our self-contained breathing apparatus bottles,” Pollak said. “They’ll refill bottles, things like that.”

Crews stayed at the scene until well after 8 a.m. to monitor the house for flareups or hot spots still smoldering.

The cause of the fire is unknown. Investigators with Puget Sound Fire will be assisted by the King County Fire Marshall’s Office in determining how it got started.

Whenever first responders have to deal with an emergency that involves a fatalities, crews have support available, if needed, to deal with the trauma of the situation.

“We have a peer fitness program, a peer support system,” Pollak explained. “We have individuals that will certainly contact the crews on duty, whether it’s a fire, or if it’s a traumatic car crash and there is a fatality there. And we have a provision in place that will take care of our firefighters.”

Tom Brock is a weekend editor, reporter and anchor for KIRO Newsradio.