Person found dead in Seattle’s U-District building fire

UPDATE – 7:00 a.m.

A person was found dead in a building at 5512 University Way N.E. that burned down Monday morning in the University District.

According to the Seattle Fire Department, the man had been reported as missing.

The abandoned building was the former home of Jet City Improv.

It caught fire shortly after 4 a.m.

ORIGINAL

A fire at an abandoned building in Seattle’s U-District Monday morning is now under control.

The flames from an old improv comedy theater at University Way Northeast and Northeast 55th Street started at around 4 a.m. Firefighters reportedly had the situation under control around 6 a.m.

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ABANDONED: That sound is firefighters using a chainsaw to cut through the roof and make themselves an opening to dump water onto this fire.

It’s another vacant building fire, this one at University Way & 56th. pic.twitter.com/UDhFnSNPSG

— Sam Campbell (@HeySamCampbell) July 24, 2023

“The partial roof has collapsed on the eastern side of the building,” said David Cuerpo with Seattle Fire. “Right now we’re doing the best we can to protect the adjacent building to the direct north that is an active music studio.”

Witnesses told Seattle Fire they saw someone on the roof as flames engulfed the building. It is unclear where that person is now.

“So far, no one has been found, though we did receive early reports from bystanders that they may have seen someone on the rooftop,” Cuerpo told KIRO Newsradio.

Cuerpo stated it was too dangerous for firefighters to go inside and check for victims.

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An investigation is underway as to how the fire started, as there is no word on what started the fire, as of this reporting.

This fire is just days after a large fire burned down an abandoned building in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District. It is too soon to say if these two incidents are related.

KIRO 7 contributed to this story

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