On August 16th, 2023, I captured footage of the Seattle Fire Department battling a raging house fire on Winona Ave North, near Green Lake. This was initially dispatched as a deck fire, but the fire spread into the house.
The first unit on scene (Ladder 5) called for a full response, and the first chief on scene (Battalion 4) requested additional engines.
The fire also spread into surrounding foliage and trees (3:51) thankfully fire fighters were able to keep it from spreading into neighboring structures.
Watching it live (and watching the video) it seems like it takes forever for the first engine to arrive. I started recording about 5 minutes after the initial call, and Engine 31 arrives at 4:42. They should have been coming from the same place as Ladder 5, so I'm not sure why it took so long. Once they arrived on scene, it only took them one minute three seconds to get water on the fire.
Engines 16 and 21 would have been the closest engines, but they were both on other calls when this one came out.
Seattle Police briefly provided traffic control, but seemed to stop for some reason, leading to a van almost running over a hose at 12:13. At 12:46, you can see fire fighters that have exited the building being hosed down with a decon line. The video was getting long, so I started a 16x speed time lapse at 12:08.
Units on the call:
Initial dispatch (deck fire): B4, E31, E35, L5
Full response: A14, A31, AIR10, B6, DEP1, E17, E18, E9, L8, L9, M31, M44, MAR5, R1, REHAB1, SAFT2, STAF10
Nearby unit added once they cleared their call: E21
Additional engines requested: E22, E40
Additional engine and truck: E16, L6
Clip listing:
0:19 L5 arrives, requests a full response
2:45 Battalion 4 requests two additional engines
3:51 Trees ignite
4:42 Fire engine arrives (E31)
5:45 Water on the fire
10:19 Additional engine and truck requested
11:18 Supply established
12:08 Time lapse 12x speed