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:
Metro Transit provided a bus on the scene for displaced residents.
The fire, which started on a third floor balcony, burned entirely through the attic.
Remnants of fire-fighting foam were still in the parking lot as firefighters and investigators talked.
The team from Seattle Red Cross was on the scene, ready to help.
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:
The Burien / Normandy Park Fire Department has done a holiday outreach program for over 25 years, and Tuesday morning (Dec. 22nd), they set out with Santa in their shiny fire trucks to make their annual delivery to 59 local families in need.
Local firefighters receive family names from the Washington Department of Social and Health Services office, then provide each one with a nice turkey dinner as well as stuffing, pies and other assorted food.
Each family also receives several toys and gifts for each child, as well as gift cards to Fred Meyer for each teenager 13-17.
One hundred percent of all donations are returned to the community and all donations are distributed locally.
“Contributions were down a bit this year,” said Doug Leudeman of Fire District #2. “And while we had enough gifts to give out, we could certainly use more cash donations to help offset some of the costs.”
Cash donations are still being accepted at the Burien/Normandy Park Fire Department Headquarters Station, located at 15100 8th Ave SW; phone: (206) 242-2040; website: www.burienfire.org.
Photographer Michael Brunk was there to capture this Photo Slideshow:
Scott LeVielle
North Highline Fire Chief Scott LeVielle announced on Monday (Dec. 21) that he will step aside, clearing the way for adoption of a reduced but balanced 2010 budget for Fire District 11.
The $4,817,185 operating budget for next year then was adopted unanimously by fire district commissioners.
LeVielle’s resignation will take effect on Feb. 28. His current annual salary is $186,362.
Burien/Normandy Park (District 2) Fire Chief Mike Marrs will become chief for both departments. Other fire chief services and training and inspection services also will be consolidated under Fire District 2.
“With that … we are in the black,” Fire Commission Chairman Ron Malispino said before approval of the budget.
“A lot of effort went into this [agreement with the fire chiefs' and firefighters' locals of the IAFF (International Association of Fire Fighters), and with Fire District 2]. A lot of effort. We need to do it and we need to do it right away. We can’t just operate anymore.”
The departure of LeVielle, who became chief at the end of 2006, and the department’s training secretary – coupled with consolidated services with Fire District 2 – will save North Highline $581,720 in salary savings next year.
Both IAFF locals made salary and benefit concessions as part of the budget-balancing process, including reducing overtime and capping sick pay payoffs. Other cuts include the reduction of a variety of department expense items from $216,600 down to $159,220.
“It was a good collective bargaining process,” LeVielle told The B-Town Blog. “When you reach consensus, that is the best process. It does work.
“It makes sense for the two departments to work together,” he continued. “It made sense to have one chief and to cut costs, including support services, over the next two years. I needed to step down to keep the department’s budget above water.”
LeVielle’s move will save two or three North Highline firefighter positions – no firefighters currently employed by the department will be laid off.
While the consolidation agreement between the Burien/Normandy Park and North Highline departments is not a merger, “there is a lot of operational consolidation, functional consolidation, of existing operations at a higher level,” Marrs said.
“This is an important first step toward making everything work and enhance existing services. This is a big commitment by District 11 to continue its level of service.”
Marrs added that it’s “good for District 2 citizens given the large area of north Burien and the [North Highline] annexation area,” but a lot of work to implement the consolidation remains to be done.
The consolidation of administrative services will take place by the end of February. Training, inspection and other operational services are expected to be fully concluded by the end of 2011, LaVielle said.
LeVielle replaced former North Highline Fire Chief Russ Pritchard when he retired at the end of 2006. In a move that generated considerable controversy at the time, District 11 commissioners increased Pritchard’s salary from $125,664 to $198,000 for the final months of 2006 as a retirement package for him.
Under a revised retirement-compensation policy, LeVielle will receive one year’s salary plus standard buyouts for accrued vacation and sick leave.
Fire District 11 commissioners would have faced the need to reduce services without the collective-bargaining agreement and the consolidation agreement with Fire District 2.
Reduced assessed property values in North Highline, the impact of annexation of part of the North Highline area by Burien in 2010, and administrative costs all contributed to the department’s budget problems.
The B-Town Blog requested copies of the North Highline department’s detailed 2010 budget and the two separation agreements. The budget was made available late Monday afternoon and the separation agreements will be available after Dec. 31 if, under state law, the respective individuals do not file a legal objection.
by 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.”
North Highline Fire Chief Scott Lavielle
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.
Commission Chairman Ron Malaspino
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.
| Dec ’09 |
| 18 |
The Burien/Normandy Park Fire Department is seeking help for their annual “Light Up The Holidays” outreach program for needy families in the area.
Donations of food or toys are being accepted at the locations listed below through Dec. 18th.
All will go directly to needy families in the area.
Christmas Outreach Drop-off locations include:
- Burien Fire Department – 15100 8th Ave SW & 135 S Normandy Rd.
- North Highline Fire Department – 1243 SW 112th & 1606 S 128th
- Highline Medical Center – 16251 Sylvester Rd SW ∙ 12844 Military Rd S ∙ 13030 Military Rd S
- Burien Toyota – 15025 1st Ave S & 139 SW 150th
- Burien Chevrolet – 14400 1st Ave S
- Albertsons – 15840 1st Ave S & 12725 1st Ave S
- YB Tubless/Economy Wiring – 633 SW 148th
- Frenzi – 218 SW 153rd
- Boulevard Park Place Seniors Center – 2805 S 125th
- Curves – 17824 1st Ave S
- Breaktime – 635 SW 152nd
- Page 2 Books – 15706 1st Ave S
- Collins Chiropractic – 619 SW 152nd St.
- Dooley’s – 611SW 152nd St.
Christmas Outreach Sponsors include:
- Sylvester Middle School
- North Highline FD
- Highline Exchange Club
- Plush Pippin Pies
- Burien Town Square
- DSHS
- Burien/Normandy Park FD
Tuesday night, Aug. 4th, was “National Night Out,” an annual event where neighborhoods get together with local police and other officials for neighborhood gatherings with the goal of giving crime and criminals a “going away party.”
Photographer Michael Brunk dropped by a party thrown by the Olympic View Estates Homeowner’s Association right here in Burien:
- This is the 8th year they’ve participated
- A total of 28 homes are in the neighborhood
- The homeowners association pays for the BBQ and entertainment, including facepainter Karen Haines from illustriddler.com, DJ Leanna Mason from entertainmentmasters.net and a bouncy toy for the kids
- Neighbors also brought food to share
- The fire department sent a truck over with fire fighters to participate
- A detective from the King County Sheriff’s department also stopped by
- Local politicians were involved as well (Councilmember Kathy Keene attended as well as a couple of other reps from different departments)
If you have any pics to share of events in your ‘hood, email us at editor@b-townblog.com!
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 Janet Grella
Burien/Normandy Park Fire Department’s Lt. Inspector John Zilke is at it again!
As in years past, John is coordinating the very large and important Christmas Outreach Program in the Burien and White Center areas. Our very own Burien Fire Department (King County Fire District 2, Burien & Normandy Park) has been helping needy families during the holidays for over 20 years.
This translates to thousands of families enjoying a happy holiday because of Burien’s generosity.
This year, with the help of the White Center DSHS, 73 local needy families have been identified to be recipients of Burien’s largess. Thirteen local businesses have volunteered to be drop-off locations and are accepting NEW toys, canned food, gift cards and cash. Thanks to both our local Fred Meyer and your cash donations, each family will also receive a turkey dinner.
All donations must be made by the morning of December 22. Upon final collection, John and our firefighters match the gifts with the families’ needs at Sunnydale School, where they will be loaded up and delivered by Santa Claus and others on December 23.
To help out our fire department, eleven departments within Highline Medical Center have each adopted one family. Sylvester Middle School students and teachers will be conducting in-school food drives as part of this community effort.
Some of the toys and food delivered to the Burien Fire Department the first day of the outreach program. For locations on where you can donate, please see the list below.
John knows that this is a particularly tough year to ask for donations, but adds. “Your donations bring light to the holidays for a needy family.”
Following are the local businesses where you can donate to the Christmas Outreach Program:
- Albertson’s—15340 1st Ave S. & 12725 1st Ave S.
- Boulevard Park Place Seniors Community—2805 S. 125th
- Burien Fire Department—15100 8th Ave. SW & 135 S. Normandy Rd.
- Burien Chevrolet—1440 1st Ave S.
- Burien Toyota—15025 1st Ave S. & 139 SW 150th St.
- Collins Chiropractic—619 SW 152nd
- Curves—17824 1st Ave S.
- Dooley’s General Store—625 SW 152nd
- Frenzi—218 SW 153rd
- North Highline Fire Department—1243 SW 112th & 1606 S. 128th
- Highline Medical Center—16252 Sylvester Rd SW
- Highline Medical Center—Riverton Campus 12844 Military Rd. S, & 23030 Military Rd
- North Highline Fire Department—1243 SW 112th & 1606 S. 128th
- Red Apple Market—96th & Des Moines Memorial Dr.
- YB Tubless/Economy Wiring—633 SW 148th
| Sep ’08 |
| 6 |
| 10:00 am |
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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SEATAC – The cause of a four-alarm blaze that destroyed the vacant Angle Lake School on Saturday won’t be known for two or three more days, said Terri-Ann Betancourt, a spokeswoman for the Port of Seattle, which owns the property.
A crane will be brought to the site early in the week to aid in the investigation.
The building, in the 19200 block of 28th Avenue South, erupted in flames shortly before 6 pm Saturday, requiring a massive response by local firefighters.
Crews from Tukwila, Burien, Kent, the Port of Seattle and King County Fire District 20 joined firefighters in SeaTac to battle the blaze.
The roof of the builiding collapsed about 30 minutes after the first units arrived.
The Port of Seattle bought the property a few years ago with plans to demolish the building and use the land for airport operations,” said Betancourt.
Neighbors say the building has been boarded up for several years.
SOURCE:
SEATAC – A three-alarm fire burned through the old abandoned Angle Lake School around 6pm Saturday.
King County emergency officials said the blaze was at 19215 28th Avenue South, and required firefighting units from Tukwila, Burien, the Port of Seattle, Kent and King County.
A large plume of black smoke could be seen rising from the building.
The building is believed to be a total loss, said David Nelson of the SeaTac Fire Department.
No one was inside at the time of the blaze, and there are no injuries.
The school building was constructed in the 1930s, and has been unoccupied since 2005, Nelson said.
It is currently owned by the Port of Seattle.
SOURCE:
BURIEN – A home under construction near 23rd SW and 158th (north Three Tree Point area) burst into flames and burned early Friday morning.
The fire started just before 6am, and investigators are still trying to determine the cause.
A neighbor allegedly heard an explosion just before the fire began, then the entire area knew something was going on when large clouds of smoke billowed up, sirens and horns blared while news helicopters hovered overhead.
At one point, TV images showed flames shooting from a rooftop vent of the home.
Fire damaged both the first and second stories, and 80 percent of the home could be lost, according to firefighters.
The owners of the home were apparently in South Carolina at the time and are returning (they may already be back by now).
No one was injured.
SOURCE:
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