Story & Photos by Scott Schaefer

1/6/10 UPDATE: We were on the scene at the English Garden Apartments (515 South 152nd, near Highline High School) this morning around 9am, where we spoke to a few of the 20 or so residents who were displaced by a fire that began on a third floor balcony and burned up through the attic (see our pics below).

“The first thing I heard were two very loud cracking sounds,” said Marcus Pitre, who lives in an adjoining building. “Then the fire alarm went off, which luckily was very loud. Everyone got out okay, and at first I didn’t see any flames. But by the time the Fire Department showed up, flames were shooting up all over the roof.”

“There’s this much water in my apartment,” said a female resident as she held her hands apart by about a foot. “I live on the first floor, and all the water from the sprinklers and firefighters ended up in my unit.”

Doug Leudeman of the Burien/Normandy Park Fire Department said that 13 residents have been displaced by smoke and water damage, and that investigators and firefighters would be on the scene most of the day today. The cause of the fire has not been determined, although a resident who lives in the unit where the fire started claimed she left a candle burning on her balcony.

Leudeman added that the unit where the damage occurred will likely be uninhabitable for a month or two. He also speculated that the estimated loss will be “around $200,000.

Metro Transit provided a bus as a sort of temporary shelter for displaced residents, and we found out that Burien Fire has a deal where they can call Metro for a bus from any fire if one is needed (we think that’s pretty cool…).

The Seattle Red Cross was also on the scene while we were there, working to help those displaced by the blaze to find temporary housing as well as other essentials like food or clothing. According to Media Relations Officer Katherine Boury:

“I just wanted to let you know that the Red Cross has been responding to this morning’s fire at 515 S. 152nd Street.

The Red Cross will provide assistance such as housing, clothing and food to six units (13 individuals).”

Here are some photos we took this morning:

PREVIOUSLY:

Twenty residents were evacuated around 5am Wednesday morning (Jan. 6th) from a fire at the 12-unit English Garden Apartments at 515 South 152nd in Burien.

The fire apparently began on a third floor balcony and burned up into the attic and roof.

No injuries were reported.

According to a KING-TV report:

A woman who lives in the apartment unit that caught fire told KING 5 she had fallen asleep and left a candle burning. She thinks that’s how the fire may have started. She awoke to hear crackling and saw the fire starting. She went into the hallway and grabbed a fire extinguisher, but when she re-entered her apartment, there was too much smoke and heat. She called 911.

Approximately 20 people were evacuated from the 12-unit building. About six units had water damage. No injuries were reported.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Here’a KING’s video:

by Ralph Nichols

With the future of fire protection service in North Highline possibly in the balance, two major personnel actions by Fire District 11 commissioners, expected to be announced at a special meeting on Monday (Dec. 21), could even the scales.

The commissioners are believed to be negotiating a buyout of North Highline Fire Chief Scott Lavielle’s contract, and a layoff package for Sharon Alishokis, a long-time department secretary.

Fire District 11 commissioners are not at liberty to discuss the anticipated moves publicly because they involve personnel decisions.

But following a lengthy executive session at their Dec. 10 board meeting, called just after it was convened, commission Chairman Ron Malaspino announced that “two personnel actions are pending … that’s where we’re going to leave it for now.”

Because of the Christmas holiday, the meeting, which normally would be held Tuesday, has been moved forward one day – it will be held Monday, Dec. 21 at 8 a.m. at the North Highline Fire Department headquarters station at 1234 SW 112th St.

Both Dave Malo, president of IAFF (International Association of Firefighters) Local 3780, representing North Highline fire chiefs, and Jeff Miller, vice president of IAFF Local 1810, representing the firefighters, said at the time it was likely that commission deliberations related to a union proposal to improve the fire district’s shaky financial posture.

“We’ll know more at the Dec. 21 meeting,” Miller said.

Malo and Miller said Fire District 11’s budget crisis is a result of the recession, which has caused assessed property values to decline, coupled with the loss of about $350,000 in 2010 after Burien annexes the southern part of the North Highline unincorporated area.

Combined, these factors are expected to result in a drop of about $1.15 million in fire district revenue, which comes only from property taxes.

Earlier this year, negotiators for the two locals presented a balanced budget proposal, including concessions in their wage and benefit package, “that would prevent any cuts in public service” in 2010, Malo said.

“They ignored our proposed budget,” which included the layoffs of LaVielle and Alishokis, Miller said, and also didn’t respond to a second proposal. The commissioners now have before them a third union proposal.

“They have no plan. They have no budget. And now we’re closing in on the end of December and they still have none.” State law requires that local government and special service district budgets for the following year be adopted by Dec. 31.

Talks between Fire District 2 (Burien/Normandy Park) and Fire District 11 also are underway, and could result in administrative and fire chief services for both departments being assumed by Burien/Normandy Park.

This, said Malo and Miller, would result in significant financial savings – perhaps as much as $1.5 million a year – for the North Highline Fire Department. That would allow the department to continue providing its current level of service, including responding to calls in north Burien.

“If not, it will be impossible to continue to do business as usual,” Miller added. “We see no option [in that event] but to cut public services.”

Dave Lawson, a former North Highline fire commissioner, told The B-Town Blog, “I’ve looked at the financial situation [in Fire District 11] and if they don’t cut the fire chief immediately and the secretary for training … they won’t survive 2010.”

The current board of commissioners has provided “no financial leadership,” said Lawson, who is chief financial officer of South King Fire & Rescue in Des Moines and Federal Way.

An unsuccessful applicant to replace the late Barb Peters on the board following her death last month, he estimated that without these layoffs, Fire District 11 won’t have in the bank the $1 million it will need to pay bills in the first quarter of 2011.

Should Fire District 11 go into next year without having improved its financial situation, there is speculation that Fire District 2 might withdraw from the current negotiations to assume some services for both departments.

by Ralph Nichols

The location for a new Burien/Normandy Park fire station in the city’s downtown business district could be selected before the end of November.

And, Fire Chief Mike Marrs told The B-Town Blog, if a land-acquisition agreement is reached by then, the new fire station could be built and occupied by late 2011.

“We’re progressing pretty well,” Marrs said. “We’d like to have been further along, but the reality is that it takes time to put together a real estate deal.”

Burien needs a new fire station to replace the outdated existing facility at the corner of SW 151st Street and 8th Ave South. But Marrs and Fire District 2 commissioners don’t want the new facility located just anywhere.

A top priority is locating the new station downtown where response times will be no more than seven minutes anywhere in the district. In addition, they want to locate the new facility near main arterials that will also provide direct access to State Route 509.

“We’d like to stay within five to seven blocks of where we are now,” he said. “That works pretty well for us.”

Last November, voters in the fire district approved a bond issue to replace both the Burien fire station and the Normandy Park fire station at 135 S. Normandy Road. Plans call for rebuilding the fire station in Normandy Park at its current location.

Marrs said earlier that both new fire stations are needed because the existing facilities were built about 50 years ago. Now the aging buildings – not built for such things as equipment for contamination calls that weren’t part of the service then – “have all sorts of deficiencies including seismic.”

In addition, the existing Burien station can’t house the department’s ladder truck downtown, where it’s needed.

The fire department is “actively pursuing several sites,” Marrs added. “We’re leaving all options open as we look at different parcels. We’re trying to get a location that makes the best economical and operational sense. We’re trying to find a good deal that’s in a good location for us.”

Earlier this year, the department expressed interest in the city’s municipal parking lot between SW 150th St. and SW 151st St. on the east half of the block east of 8th Ave. SW.

But Burien City Council members Sue Blazak and Lucy Krakowiak expressed concern during an August council meeting about losing parking spaces downtown. Blazak indicated that new parking would have to be found before she could support letting the fire department build at that location.

Since then the fire department has looked at a number of private properties downtown.

“All sites looked at have varying degrees of buildings and vacant land on them, with a number of parcels put together” to provide the land needed for a new station,” Marrs said.

“There’s not a lot of large parcels left in downtown Burien, so it’s a package of smaller parcels. It’s a real mix and match.”

Once a land deal is reached, the design and permitting process will begin, a process that will take about a year, followed by construction of the new station, which will take about another 12 months.

by Ralph Nichols

The location is essential. A delay will cost money. Yet some members of the Burien City Council insisted at their August 17th meeting that selecting a site for a new fire station must go “hand in hand” with providing replacement parking downtown.

Following their discussion, which often focused more on parking than on the fire station, lawmakers asked City Manager Mike Martin to bring to the first council meeting in September more suggestions for new parking lots.

The Burien/Normandy Park Fire Department needs to replace its outdated existing station at the corner of SW 151st Street and 8th Ave SW. On that point there is no disagreement. The question is where to build it without reducing already limited public parking downtown.

A critical requirement for the new station is a site that will allow a response time of no more than seven minutes anywhere within Fire District No. 2. Locating the new facility close to main arterials that provide direct access to State Route 509 is also important.

One general location that meets these needs – in which the department has expressed interest – is between SW 146th Street and SW 154th Street and Ambaum Boulevard and 4th Ave SW.

Topping the department’s preferred list is the municipal parking lot between 150th and 151st Streets on the east half of the block east of 8th Ave SW. Only three vehicles were observed parked in this lot early Tuesday afternoon.

Martin told the council he had identified two city-owned properties that could replace most, but not all, of the parking spaces in the municipal lot should the new fire station is built there. One is west of Southwest Sixth Avenue just north of retail parking behind businesses along SW 152nd Street. The other is west of 6th Ave SW adjacent to the Post Office between 150th and 151st streets.

These locations “might replace (municipal lot) parking that might serve the city’s interests and also serve the fire district’s interests,” Martin said. In addition, about 15 city fleet vehicles can be parked in a secure lot at the district’s other station in Normandy Park.

Fire Chief Mike Marrs told council members the fire district would like to move forward with siting and planning the new station “as quickly as possible” because of current “favorable construction costs and bond sales.” One source later told the B-Town Blog that, given current prices, beginning work now could save the district $1-2 million.

Marrs added the fire district also has identified two other potential sites. He didn’t disclose their location to avoid the possibility of inflating sale prices.

But Councilwoman Lucy Krakowiak said while “public safety is the number one priority for our citizens … downtown parking is a need, too…. For the big picture of parking solutions, we need to bring private property owners together and see how to use private lots that sit largely vacant.”

Deputy Mayor Sue Blazak added, “The two issues go hand in hand. While there should be a spot for the fire department, we can’t separate it from parking.” Blazak is running for election to a second term in November.

Councilman Gordon Shaw disagreed, declaring that “putting off the fire station for parking is unreasonable.” In their discussion, he noted, council members were “putting the parking issue over the fire issue. We’ve got our priorities upside down. Parking is not the chief’s issue.”

Shaw suggested at an earlier meeting that the fire department should build its new station on the municipal parking lot site, and that this parking be replaced not with a single lot but by clusters of spaces at various locations in the downtown area.

On the busiest day downtown this year, when Town Square and the new library/city hall were dedicated in June, “less than 10 vehicles were parking in (the municipal) lot,” Councilwoman Rose Clark said at Monday’s meeting. Suggesting that the fire department could make better use of that location, she voiced support for building the new station there.

Mayor Joan McGilton said she “would like to see a decision regarding the municipal parking lot, and then go on to a discussion of parking. I don’t know if we can solve our parking needs in time to meet the fire district’s schedule.”

The new fire station will be paid for by a sale of bonds that was approved by voters in the fire district last November, as will the Normandy Park fire station at 135 S. Normandy Road. Plans call for rebuilding that station at the current location.

Marrs says new fire stations are needed because the existing facilities were built about 50 years ago when the transition from volunteer to primarily paid firefighters was just beginning. Now the aging buildings – not built for equipment for such things as equipment for contamination calls that weren’t part of the service then – “have all sorts of deficiencies including seismic.” And the existing Burien station “can’t house the department’s ladder truck downtown, where it’s needed.”

“We understand that (parking) is the primary concern of the city council,” he adds. “They don’t want to lose parking. That’s why they’re reluctant to sell the municipal parking lot to us without replacement parking.” Currently the fire department has no replacement parking offer, but “we’re working on what one might look like and what the costs might be.”

So…where do YOU think the new fire department station should be built? Please take our poll, or Comment below…

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A Message from Chief Mike Marrs: Bond Update

On behalf of everyone at the Burien/Normandy Park Fire Department, I want to say thank you for supporting our November bond measure. This is the first in a series of communications to keep you updated on the progress we are making on the bond to replace our two fire stations for Burien and Normandy Park.

This was the first bond in the history of the fire department, and it passed by 66% even in this tough economy. Thanks to you, our firefighters and emergency personnel will have safe and healthy stations from which to serve you and your family.

Recently, we hired the architecture firm of Rice Fergus Miller to design the stations and go through the construction permitting process. Rice Fergus Miller has extensive experience designing and permitting other fire stations in King County and Washington. It was important to us that we hire a company with proven experience in working with emergency service providers.

We anticipate the design and permitting process to take just over a year. Once the designs are complete, we plan to unveil your new stations at a public meeting. We will heavily publicize the meeting and hope to see you there!

The next step is to sign a contract with a bond underwriter. Then the bonds are issued and King County will start collecting the taxes that you approved in November. The key here is timing. We have just three years to complete construction on the stations from the time that bonds are issued. We want to make sure that we are project-ready to build before we issue the bonds. Doing so maximizes our bond capacity and minimizes the impact to taxpayers in this tough economy.

No major project is without challenges, however. The biggest one we face is finding an appropriate site for the Burien station. We have identified property owned by the City of Burien, and hope that the City Council will agree to let us build there. We believe this is the most cost-effective and centrally located option for the new station. Talks are ongoing with city officials, and we will report back any progress we make in future updates.

Some good news is that we might have found a better site for the Normandy Road station. We are doing a feasibility study to confirm some details. The important thing is that we are working hard to be good stewards of your tax dollars; if we can save money and still provide the same level of emergency service, we will!

Again, thank you for your continued support of your fire fighters and emergency responders. Stay tuned for more updates as information becomes available.

In the meantime, feel free to contact me with any questions at (206) 242-2040 ext. 101 or by email at: mikemarrs@burienfire.org.

By Chief Mike Marrs
Burien-Normandy Park Fire Department

With all the hoopla over the Presidential candidates, I wanted to gently remind the communities of Burien and Normandy Park that your fire department has a bond on the general election ballot Nov. 4th (download PDF here).

This is the first facilities bond in the 80-year history of your fire department. It would replace our two existing fire stations with two new facilities.

The current fire stations have mold from bad ventilation, and cracks from past earthquakes in the walls and foundations. Neither station has adequate decontamination facilities for firefighters that face hazardous materials on emergency calls. Sleeping quarters are cramped and inappropriate for male and female firefighters that work 24-hour shifts, as well. In addition, our firefighters have been in the crossfire of gang activity, and faced an armed intruder at the Normandy Road Station.

We have been good stewards of your tax dollars, with a long history of clean financial audits from the State. And, now is no different. We’re not going to build the Taj Mahal in these tough economic times. We will build two new facilities to replace the two we have that are past their usable lives.

Both new stations will include decontamination facilities for our firefighters, secure entries and exits, as well as appropriate accommodations to reflect a mixed-gender squad. The Normandy Road Station will have a modest training facility attached to it. The new Headquarters will have an emergency operations center to help coordinate relief efforts in case of large-scale disasters.

The total cost to build the new stations will be $25 millon collected over 20 years. This boils down to approximately $9 per month for the owner of a $300,000 home.  We know times are hard right now for many families in our community. Ultimately, the bond decision is yours to make.

Just please remember to mark and mail your ballots by November 4th or go to the polls.

We appreciate your involvement!

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Here at the B-Town Blog we open our doors to all voices, so if you'd like to submit your opinion, please email us!]

The annual Burien/Normandy Park Fire Department Kids’ Day is coming up Saturday, Sept. 6th, from 10am to 3pm at Fire Station #28, located at 15100 8th Ave SW in Burien.

Last year, 1,000 kids attended the event which included:

• Display of fire engines
• Ladder truck
• Aid units
• Police vehicles
• Helicopter
• Auto extrication
• High-angle rescue
• Other demonstrations.
• Safety instruction for children:
  • Fire prevention
  • Burns
  • Electrical
  • Railroad
  • Fire escape practice
  • Police fingerprint I.D.
• Prize drawings
• Balloons
• Candy
• Hot dogs
• Inflatable air bouncy thingy
  
• Face painting
• Smokey Bear
• Mariner Moose
• Games
• Much more!

Kids’ Day focuses on injury prevention, educational displays and demonstrations, and most of all – FUN for everyone!

It’s a great way for kids (and grownups too…) to learn about fire prevention, as well as meet and honor your local firefighting heroes.

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As we reported on June 1st, a four-alarm fire destroyed the abandoned old Angle Lake School in SeaTac.

Now comes word that the fire’s origins, while a mystery for the last few weeks, was indeed arson, according to Chief Meyer of the SeaTac Fire Department.

Here’s a great Flickr slideshow of the blaze, taken by Photog “Cave Canem”:

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

The school building was constructed in the 1930s, and had been unoccupied (other than transients, who are suspected in the arson) since 2005.

SOURCE:

• KIRO-TV