Friday, May 16 was the final day of live fire training at 6556 32nd Avenue NE, and it was a doozy.
“Two months to build, ninety minutes to destroy,” said one of the firefighters at the scene. Looking at the clock at the end of the burn down, he wasn’t that far off.
How did you think they washed their bunker gear?
Mr. Propane Torch is ready.
Recruits run EVERYWHERE…
…even to photo ops.
Pre-burn down meeting between trainers and recruits.
If we all put our shoes INSIDE our pants before we put them on, just think how much faster we could get dressed in the morning.
Lt. Sue Stangl, one of the Seattle Fire Department’s public information officers, was on hand once again to answer questions. Here she’s telling spectators that once the smoke and fire get going, we may all want to move.
This set of valves split the main line of water being pumped from a nearby engine (on the right, near the boot) into multiple lines to various hoses. This firefighter is about to turn the valves to ON and is holding down the apparatus with his body weight. Lots of pressure about to be released.
After the fire was set inside the house, the first sense to pick up the change was hearing: Snapping and crackling could be heard. Then smoke began to leak out of the stripped roof.
Flames were not far behind.
Increase in the flames.
Imagined conversation later in the day:
“Hey, grandpa. What did you do today?”
“Oh, you know. Just sat on the stoop and looked outside.”
“It was a beautiful day! You should have at least gone for a walk.”
“Eh. Nah.”
A hole had been pre-cut in the roof on the east side of the house (near the peak of the Bravo side). The flames from here were TALL.
A movie to show Mommy later.
I never made it to any of the afternoon training sessions, but the morning sessions were never this well attended. And never had nearly so many miniature lawn chairs.
Top floor window on the Delta side. Roof beams now exposed.
Below this window, one can start to see the flames through small holes in the exterior of the house.
Roof peak gone.
And the rest of the roof is soon to follow.
Three representatives from Polygon Northwest, the company that purchased the old Children’s Home Society land and will develop the parcel, were on hand today for the fire.
When you’re a retired Seattle firefighter who takes pictures for the department, you get a better perch.
As the fire consumed the living room, an occasional piece of glass would pop out and shatter.
Alpha side.
Deputy Chief Phil Jose (white helmet) talks with Lt. Stangl, and Lt. Luis Batayola (red helmet) from nearby Fire Station 38. Station 38 will be doing some training next week on at least one of the remaining single family homes on the north side of the block (no more total burn downs, though).
In the background here we see one of the engines covered in wet tarps to protect the equipment from the heat of the fire. The yellow tape marks the boundary where only fire department personnel may enter. The red and white striped tape marks the exclusion zone around the burning house where no one may enter.
Anytime a section of the house fell in and sent up a shower of ash, a firefighter stationed at the northwest corner of the house would send a shower of water into the air after it.
Here we see one of the recruits enjoying some rehab time with a piece of pizza. (Most confused-looking delivery boy ever, by the way.)
Alpha side has seen better days.
It’s easy to see why people like calendars full of these guys.
Oh. Hello there, sir. Are you looking at m…
…oh, there’s a cute kid standing in front of me. Never mind.
Bravo side.
Little girl fresh from ballet class (looks like), watching the event with her hands clasped behind her back, just like the recruits.
Another shot at some ash as the front of the house falls in.
The one place WITHOUT fire? The fire place.
This section around a Delta side window resembles an Easter Island monolith. To me.
View through the length of the house. Daylight basement indeed.
Here a recruit helps protect a tree at the corner of the lot (viewed through a chain link fence). This tree will be kept on the property even as Polygon homes constructs a run of seven single-family homes down this side of 32nd Avenue NE.
Charlie side, with the alley beyond.
As nearby Eckstein Middle School let out, swaths of teenagers wandered by the scene.
Watching Bravo side.
The woman on the left is Deb, a local resident. The woman on the right is Sunny, and she and her family used to rent this house. She, her husband, and their two children lived in 6556 32nd Avenue NE for four years before they purchased their own home and moved on.
We agreed that this was all really weird for her to watch.*
As the house become not much more than smoldering embers, the firefighters donned their air supply masks and waded in.
Debris was moved from the yard surrounding the house to within the cement foundation.
The maple tree the firefighters were protecting got a bit singed, but will definitely pull through.
I told Lt. Stangl that this sort of event must be like the Blue Angles equivalent for the fire department.
At the tail end of the burn, Battalion 4’s chief stopped for a visit. Not much left of the house besides the fireplace.
Previous posts on these live fire exercises:
Seattle Fire to conduct “live fire” training at old CHSW site on May 13-16
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*Sunny: If you see this, I apologize for not saying more about your family’s time in the neighborhood and in this house. Later that afternoon I returned my defective iPhone, got a new one, and only then realized that I had not backed up my notes from the event (which included your email address). Thank you for sharing your memories of your time in this house with me.
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