SEATTLE — Two bodies were recovered from a house fire in Seattle's Montlake neighborhood Wednesday morning after police say a suspect tried to stab officers who responded to the scene.
At about 8:30 a.m., officers responded to multiple 911 calls of a man yelling and a woman in distress in the 2200 block of 25th Avenue East, according to Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz.
When officers knocked on the door of the home, the man said he was armed and refused to come out. He said the woman in the home was injured.
Four officers went into the home, and Diaz said the man tried to stab the officers with a knife.
The officers retreated, and a SWAT team was brought in. However, there were smoke and flames from a fire in the home, and that team retreated as well.
Diaz said the Seattle Fire Department took over once it was determined no one would survive the house fire. Factors in that decision include whether smoke has filled the home for a certain amount of time and the amount of fire in the home, Seattle Fire spokesperson Kristin Tinsley said.
There are three residential units in the home, two of which are upstairs and one that's on the main level and in the basement, according to Diaz. There was smoke and flame damage to all three levels of the home, according to Tinsley.
Crews recovered the body of a man from the main floor – who is believed to be the suspect – and a second body from the basement, Tinsley said. Occupants from the other units are accounted for, Diaz said.
The four responding officers are being treated at Harborview Medical Center for smoke inhalation, Diaz said. No firefighters were injured, according to Tinsley.
All lanes of 24th Avenue East from East McGraw to East Newton streets are closed, according to the Seattle Department of Transportation.
Seattle Fire said crews "are currently able to keep the fire contained to the residence."
The public is asked to avoid the area.
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