According to KIRO-TV, Burien fire victim John Miklosh received a surprise package from country music star Vince Gill – an autographed guitar!
Apparently a reporter for KIRO found out that Miklosh had lost his autographed guitar in the fire, so he called Gill’s “people” and arranged for a replacement, which arrived today.
Full story here, but note that KIRO erroneously claims that only two people were killed, when in actuality three were (Edgar Omar Cisneros Velazquez, his grandfather Ramon Cisneros Sanchez and Lindy Kunimoto).
And as of Aug. 26th, the arsonist still remains at large despite a $10,000 reward.
by Mark Neuman
A refreshing phone call came in to the B-Town Blog offices from Burien fire victim David Baggott.
You may recall that David, along with his wife Elizabeth, are among the more than two dozen survivors of the fatal June 29th arson fire which destroyed the Tara and Jenny Marie apartment buildings on SW 155th Street in Burien.
Their roommate, Lindy Kunimoto, age 49, died in the fire. Two other people, tenants on the floor above them (including an 8-year old boy), also died tragically, and as of today, the arsonist still remains at large despite a $10,000 reward.
David is now back at work. He and Elizabeth have settled in to a new apartment near Highline High School.
“I just want to say how very much we appreciate all the help that everyone has provided,” David said. “We are overwhelmed with what the community has done for all of us.”
David says his parents, who lived with them at the Tara, are doing much better now, too.
David and Elizabeth, along with his parents and about a ten other survivors, attended the Fire Victim’s Fundraiser (co-sponsored by the B-Town Blog along with Discover Burien) held at Mick Kelly’s July 16th.
“We loved it,” he said. “Thank you very, very much to everyone for the turnout.”
The Fundraiser, featuring silent, live auctions and a 50/50 raffle, raised over $10,500, which went directly to a fire victims fund set up at Sterling Savings Bank.
David says he will stay in touch and keep B-Town Blog readers informed as to how life is going.
Meanwhile, David is a strong advocate for planning and rehearsing a fire drill in the home.
“Knowing exactly how you are going to get out in case of a fire is a very, very good thing to know.”
According to the Seattle P-I, members of a family that lived at the arson-burned Tara Apartments in Burien are suing their landlord, claiming they did little to prevent the fire that destroyed the building and killed their 8-year old child and two other people.
Former residents Jamie Cisneros and Martha Velazquez lost their 8-year-old son, Edgar Omar Cisneros Velazquez, in the June 29 arson, which also killed Cisneros’s father, Ramon Cisneros Sanchez. Resident Lindy Kunimoto, 49, was also killed.
Now the couple has sued building owners Eric and Ruth Johnson. contending that they failed to maintain required safety equipment or provide residents with adequate escape routes in case of fire. The Johnsons have yet to file a response in King County Superior Court, where the suit was filed July 8.
No specific allegations of wrongdoing were made in court filings.
Fire investigators determined the fire was caused by arson, and put out a $10,000 reward for the arsonist.
However, no arrests have yet been made.
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Be sure to mark your calendars for Wed. July 16th, as there will be a major Burien Fire Victim fundraiser with live music, silent and live auctions and much more at Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub at 435 SW 152nd in downtown Burien.
Further info will be coming soon, so stay tuned to the B-Town Blog for exclusive information.
In the meantime, if you’d like to donate, look at the right sidebar of this page and you’ll see what appears to be a new “Ad,” but is actually a call to action for all our faithful and generous B-Town Blog Readers to donate to the American Red Cross’ “Burien Apartment Fire Fund.”
All donations will go directly to the victims of last weekend’s tragic fire that killed three, injured six and left dozens homeless.
Latest news developments:
- On Monday, the King County Sheriff’s Office declared that the fire that destroyed the eight-unit Tara Apartments and heavily damaged the identical Jenny Marie Apartments in the 400 block of Southwest 155th Street was arson. Investigators aren’t releasing what specifically led them to conclude it was arson, said sheriff’s spokesman John Urquhart.
- The fire is being investigated by King County Fire Investigators and the Major Crimes Unit of the Sheriff’s Office.
- A $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of whoever is responsible. Anyone with information about the arson should call the Sheriff’s Office immediately at (206) 296-3311.
- According to the Sheriff’s Office, the fire caused about $1.75 million in damage. But for many of those left homeless, the fire consumed belongings that will be difficult to calculate in dollar amounts.
If you’re interested in helping out (either with donations to the upcoming auction event or your assistance in helping get the word out), please email us ASAP.
UPDATE 2:30pm 6/30/08: The tragic apartment fire that killed three early Sunday has been determined as being arson and a $10,000 reward has been set for information leading to an arrest.
Lots of generous B-Town Blog Readers have been asking how they can help the victims, and here’s what we recommend for now since relief efforts are still developing:
Donate online directly to a “Burien Apartment Fire” fund courtesy the American Red Cross. The Red Cross website says:
“Help the Red Cross provide food, shelter and hope to the victims of the Burien Apartment fire. All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. The American Red Cross honors donor intent. By making a gift to this fund, your gift will be used to provide assistance to individuals and families affected by the fire. If you would prefer to make a gift to support the thousands of disasters the Red Cross responds to each year across the country, please select the National Disaster Relief Fund. If you wish to support disaster relief in our local community, please select the American Red Cross Serving King & Kitsap Counties Fund.”
- Donate by phone: With a credit card, you can make a secure Red Cross donation over the phone weekdays between 8:30am – 5:00pm by dialing (206) 323-2345. Make sure and specify that the donation goes toward the “Burien Apartment Fire”.
- Donate by snail mail: Send a check or money order to the American Red Cross Serving King & Kitsap Counties with “Burien Apartment Fire” in the Memo Field and mail it to:
Seattle Red Cross
P.O. Box 3097
Seattle, WA 98114-3097
- As of today, here are local businesses that are accepting donated goods for the fire victims:
- Sterling Savings Bank, located at 224 SW 152nd Street in downtown Burien is accepting and holding donations; contact number is (206) 243-6869
- Collins Chiropractic, located at 619 SW 152nd in downtown Burien is accepting and holding donations; contact Lindsay at (206) 242-0998
NOTE: Until we gather more info on the victims, we recommend that our Readers either donate cash directly to the Red Cross, or purchase Gift Cards to local businesses and drop them off at either Sterling Savings or Collins Chiropractic.
Until we know specific needs and sizes we recommend NOT donating clothing yet – stick to either cash or Gift Cards for now.
If you own a business, or are a BTB Reader who wishes to help, please email us – our goal is to serve as the online resource for assisting our neighbors in need, and this effort is only just beginning.
Teams from the King County Fire Investigation Unit are scheduled to return this morning to the site of Sunday morning’s fatal fire that killed three, injured six and left over 30 homeless.
Fire investigators have not determined a cause for the fire which destroyed the Tara Apartments at 455 SW 155th, and badly damaged the neighboring Jenny Maria Apartments at 429 SW 155th shortly after 12:30am Sunday.
Officials with the King County Sheriff’s Office have said the fire appears suspicious.
The Red Cross has set up a shelter at the Burien Presbyterian Church, where they are assisting dozens of tenants displaced by the fire .
The B-Town Blog is planning on doing both a physical and an online fundraising campaign to help the victims, so stay tuned.
If you’re a local business or resident interested in helping out, please send us an email.
After manning our booth at today’s beautiful, hot final day of the Strawberry Festival, we took a very deep breath, then drove solemnly by the remnants of last night’s tragic, fatal fire (Burien’s worst in two decades) that left three people dead, six injured and 31 homeless:
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
We then went over to Lake Burien Presbyterian Church, where the Red Cross has set up a shelter for the 31 displaced people and talked with volunteers there. Out of respect for the families, we opted not to take photos, as the survivors gathered had just been informed of the three deaths (and several were related or very close to the victims).
It’s sad whenever a tragedy like this hits a community, and this one hit hard, as the following comment by an eyewitness posted on Craigslist attests to:
We were woken by sirens about 12:45 am. This is so incredibly sad. The entire complex was engulfed before fire fighters arrived. Three confirmed dead now (Go to KIRO’s website for pictures and story). One of whom is an 8 year old boy whom was a former classmate and friend of my daughter. His Grandfather also died and one other person. It also moved to the apartments next door and damaged 3/4 of that building as well. We could stand in our front parking lot..see and feel the flames….that close to us.
No one knows what happened yet. Fireworks? Electrical? (Loud bang could have even been the water tanks exploding. Even if it was due to someone being stupid, the loss of lives is horrendous. I saw a woman sobbing, and I was told by a man who knows them, that she is the mother of the young boy. So she lost 2 loved ones.
Please be kind no matter what the outcome is, and hold the familys close. Good thoughts, prayers, chanting, lighting candles….what ever you do.
Thank YOU “B-Town Blog” for the story I know you’ll do with excellence. I’m only sorry your stories aren’t all full of ’strawberry festival’ happiness.
Thank you.
A very saddened neighbor who knew the child personally. (Telling my child she lost her friend was so damned hard to do.)
Rest assured that the B-Town Blog plans on doing whatever it can to help those in need, so stay tuned for some positive, uplifting events soon…
UPDATE 4pm 6/29/08: Officials say that last night’s fatal apartment fire that killed three may have been deliberately set.
Neighbors said the dead included an 8-year-old boy and his grandfather, but officials would not confirm that.
Emergency officials confirmed that the three dead were found in two units, one above the other, in one of the apartment buildings.
Here’s two raw video clips of the fire we found today apparently taken by a neighbor from across the street:
If you have any photos or video of this tragedy, please email us at tips@b-townblog.com.
UPDATE: A major three-alarm fire in Burien last night left three people dead, injured six and left around 50 people homeless.
The fire, in the 400 block of SW 155th Street, was reported at about 12:45am Sunday morning.
“I heard an explosion and glass shattering,” said Lisa Johnson, who a resident of the apartment building. “So I automatically had my granddaughter with me and came out.”
“The streets were just filled with people running and screaming … and the apartment was in flames,” she said.
The first fire crews roared in, sirens wailing and horns blaring, to find a two-story apartment building with heavy fire and smoke pouring from the front of the building, said Dave Nelson, spokesman for King County Fire District 20.
The two-alarm blaze quickly escalated to a three-alarm fire when an adjacent apartment building’s roof caught fire, and more fire crews were needed to battle the spreading flames.
Kenneth Mason, who lives nearby, came running when he saw the crackling flames and that’s when he spotted five people, including a baby, trapped behind a jammed-shut glass door in the burning building.
Mason yelled at a woman in the trapped group.
“I said, ‘Get out! Get out! There’s a fire! There’s a fire!’ and she said, ‘We can’t get out!’ And my friend Sam grabbed a big old brick and went and busted the glass door,” he said.
“And they threw the baby out and gave me the baby, and the rest of the guys came out – and then the fire really got bad.”
Amid the mayhem, a teenage girl jumped from a second-story window in another part of the building, suffering injuries.
Ladder trucks from Tukwila and Renton were able to pour water from above while King County firefighters took a defensive position to stop the fire from spreading to two other buildings.
The first building was completely destroyed and the second building suffered major damage.
Six people were treated at area hospitals, including the girl who jumped from her window. Other injuries include burns and smoke inhalation.
As of Sunday morning, fire officials were still accounting for occupants of both buildings. Many people went with family and friends and to Highline Medical Center to be with family members who were injured.
No firefighters were injured battling the fire.
Firefighters from around South King County assisted in fighting the fire including Renton, Tukwila, Kent, Seatac, South King Fire and Rescue, North Highline, King County Medic One, King County Fire District 20, Seattle and King County Sheriff Fire Marshals Office.
The Seattle Chapter of the American Red Cross is assisting nearly 50 displaced people and sheltering them at a local school.
Firefighters will remain on scene to assist in the investigation.
At this time due to the building’s weakness fire investigators will have to wait until its safe to go inside the first building to determine the cause.
Damage estimates are not available at this time.
Stay tuned to the B-Town Blog for an online fundraising drive to help your neighbors in need.
SOURCE:
We found an amazingly humorous, well-written yet somewhat edgy blog entry by “lavender_jane” today about the Heights At Burien apartment complex on Ambaum, which was recently purchased by The Laramar Group.
The post contrasts what the property owners espouse about the apartments in marketingspeak versus what an actual tenant thinks.
It is truly hilarious, and here’s an excerpt:
Surrounded by broken down cars on blocks and stunning views of the overflowing dumpsters, you are enticed inside by a tree-lined drive and welcomed into a charming neighborhood of cramped, military-style apartment homes…
If you’d like to LOL, go read the entire entry NOW.
Looks like the Lora Lake Apartment sale will be delayed again, as recent soil samples indicate dioxin and petroleum hydrocarbons on the property.
The sale from the Port of Seattle to King County is pending the outcome of additional environmental testing.
Samples taken from 7 and 14 feet below ground show evidence of toxins. The port bought the buildings as a safety buffer for Sea-Tac Airport’s third runway.
The port originally planned to demolish all the buildings, but after a protracted fight a deal was reached for King County to buy the property and maintain apartments outside the safety zone as affordable housing.
Now both agencies are working with the state Department of Ecology to determine the extent of the underground contamination.
The property was the site of an auto wrecking yard in 1950, but was supposedly investigated and cleaned up before the apartments were built.
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A 29-year-old Mexican national has been sentenced for 6-1/2 years in prison for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, stemming from a bust on his Burien apartment last July.
Miguel Eden Villarreal is an illegal alien who will likely be deported back to Mexico following his prison term.
On July 31, 2007, Drug Enforcement Administration agents obtained a search warrant and searched the Burien apartment where Villarreal lived with his wife and two young children. Agents and King County sheriff’s officers uncovered methamphetamine, cocaine, packaging materials and $40,000 in cash.
Villarreal was arrested a few blocks away from the apartment. He told investigators that he had been in the United States illegally for about five months and had been dealing drugs for four months.
At Villarreal’s sentencing, U.S. District Judge Robert S. Lasnik said Villarreal was “involved in moving massive amounts of one of the most dangerous drugs on the street.”
SOURCE:
The long-standing controversy over the Lora Lake Apartments in Burien may soon come to a close, with 162 units of affordable housing saved, and a package of benefits to the city of Burien.
The Burien City Council approved by a 4-to-2 vote in November a nonbinding agreement with King County, the King County Housing Authority, the Port of Seattle and the city of Seattle. Under the agreement, the Housing Authority will purchase the apartments at fair market value from the Port, the county said.
The county will purchase two separate properties south of the apartments from the Port and Seattle City Light, to be developed into commercial purposes, which is what Burien originally sought. Burien will also receive a combined $1 million from the county and the Housing Authority for a transit project.
The Port had planned for several years to demolish the Lora Lake Apartments, which sit near the third runway at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and to work with Burien to bring business to the area. But in the midst of an affordable-housing crisis, the Housing Authority, which was operating the complex, began lobbying against the demolition last summer.
The complex originally had 234 units, but some already have been razed. Last spring the remaining units became a rallying point for affordable housing and the prevention of homelessness, with legislators and community activists bearing down on Burien.
Burien officials have said they feel the city has become the scapegoat for a regional problem; in fact, they said, Burien has a higher percentage of affordable housing than Seattle.
At their meeting, council members also reiterated their concern that the Lora Lake Apartments are not a safe place for families to live, between the air and the noise pollution from the third runway. Still, some council members said they wanted to avoid the cost of fighting the issue further in court, and to move on to other important city business.
Four members voted to sign the agreement, said Deputy Mayor Rose Clark – but not one person was pleased about it.
“The council felt very pressured, fearing that future needs would be blocked by the county or the state,” said Clark, who voted against signing the agreement. “It was kind of like blackmail, I believe.”
At one point last spring, County Executive Ron Sims threatened to pull the county out of a multimillion-dollar park-and-ride, retail and housing complex in downtown Burien, a key piece of that city’s redevelopment plan.
Late last summer, the Housing Authority got an injunction to stop the demolition of the remaining units. Recently, state Rep. Dave Upthegrove, D-Des Moines, became the mediator for talks among the parties.
On Monday, Sims hailed the agreement as a “great outcome” that meets important regional goals on housing and transit-oriented development.
“I want to commend all the parties involved for the vision and creative solution that will serve the region well,” he said in a statement.
Lora Lake Apartments have been vacant since they were turned over to the Port in July. The authority anticipates that they will be ready for residents to move in April 2008.
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