SEATTLE — Investigators are looking into what caused a large fire that destroyed an apartment building and a home in Seattle’s Columbia City neighborhood.
"I'd never seen flames that high in the sky,” said Al Mullen. “It was wild."
A wild scene in south Seattle with 911 calls pouring in early Saturday morning from neighbors on Claremont Avenue.
"Flames about six stories high, and you could feel the heat off my porch, it was insane,” said Mullen. “Things near it were catching fire, cars, this house next to it."
Seattle Fire Department officials said more than 70 firefighters responded to the fire that started in an apartment building under construction. According to SFD, it then extended to a home next door, causing evacuations at neighborhood homes and apartment buildings as a precaution.
Which was very concerning for neighbors like Mullen who lives just two doors down. "My first thought was kind of where are my pets?” said Mullen. “And where all my friends and family. And I could grab things if it started to spread."
The person in the impacted home was able to escape the flames. But fire crews said they're now displaced. Meanwhile, other neighbors that were evacuated during the fire are now back at their homes and said they are grateful the situation didn't turn deadly.
"Scary, seeing other construction happening right next to it, what could've happened if this caught fire,” said Mullen.