Outdoor Fire Pit City Regulations

The Laurelhurst Blog received this email from a neighbor:

We live north of the park and a neighbor has an outdoor fire pit. One night, the fire pit was burning and the smoke was very thick, and lingered around our home and others for hours. What is the Seattle code for use of personal fire pits?

Here is information from Seattle Fire Department:

Outdoor Fire Regulations  

Fire Department permits are not required for use of portable outdoor fireplaces, recreational fires and cooking fires unless they exceed three feet in diameter and two feet in height. Fires larger than three feet by two feet require a permit from both the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency and the Seattle Fire Department. 

Air Quality Regulations
When air quality conditions are poor, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency may enact a ban on both indoor and outdoor burning. To determine if an air quality burn ban is in effect, call 1-800-595-4341, or visit their web site at www.pscleanair.org.

Requirements for Recreational Fires (Seattle Fire Code)
Recreational fires are those for cooking, pleasure, religious, ceremonial or similar purposes where the fire is not contained in an outdoor fireplace, grill or barbecue pit.

Recreational fires are allowed only if all of the following conditions are met: 1. No air quality burn ban is in effect. 2. The fire is not more than three feet in diameter and two feet in height. 3. The fire is located at least 25 feet from any structure or combustible material. Conditions which could cause a fire to spread shall be eliminated prior to ignition. 4. Trash, yard waste, rubbish, or paper products are not being burned. 5. Fire extinguishing equipment is readily available for use. This should include a shovel and two buckets of water, or a charged garden hose or fire extinguisher with a 4-A rating. 6. The fire is continually attended by an adult until it is completely extinguished. 7. The fire is not being conducted on public property where fires are prohibited, such as in a park or on school grounds. Fires in parks are only allowed where specifically authorized, and where appropriate burning receptacles are provided. 

Use of Portable Outdoor Fireplaces 

A patio fireplace is one that is designed to function as a masonry or factory-built fireplace, except that they are portable, outdoor, solid-fuel burning fireplaces. They may be constructed of steel, concrete or clay and may or may not be equipped with a short chimney. Use of patio fireplaces is allowed if the following conditions are met: 1. No air quality burn ban is in effect. 2. The patio fireplace is not placed on a deck or balcony and is not located within 15 feet of a structure or combustible material or vegetation. Use of patio fireplaces at single family homes and duplexes are exempt from this requirement. 3. Trash, yard waste, rubbish, or paper products are not being burned. 4. Fire extinguishing equipment is readily available for use. This should include a shovel and two buckets of water, or a a charged garden hose or fire extinguisher with a 4-A rating is present. 5. The fire is not being conducted on public property where fires are prohibited, such as in a park or on school grounds. Fires in parks are only allowed where specifically authorized, and where appropriate burning receptacles are provided. 

For more information go here. 

Firework Tips

The Seattle Fire Department sent out this notice:

Be Safe this July 4^th and Leave the Fireworks to the Professionals

Seattle Fire Department, Harborview  Medical Center and the Seattle Police Department are reminding the community to stay safe this Fourth of July.

Fireworks pose a fire hazard to property and present a safety risk to those who use them. Every year, the Seattle Fire Department responds to fireworks-related fires and injuries. These incidents could have been prevented by leaving the fireworks to the professionals.  

On the Fourth of July, 911 centers can become overloaded with non-emergency fireworks calls. Do not call 911 unless you have a life-threatening emergency and need immediate help from police, fire or medics.

Any fireworks-related fires or injuries should be reported directly to 911. Other fireworks violations may be reported by calling the Seattle Police non-emergency number at (206) 625-5011.

Rules For Using The Firepit At The Park

The Laurelhurst Blog has received several reports of the firepit left smoldering after use as well as lots of garbage left in and around the firepit. 

Last week a neighbor called the Fire Department to report a small flame and smoke in the unattended firepit in the late morning on a very hot, breezy day. 

The Seattle Municipal Code 18.12.270 - Fires says:  

It is unlawful (a) to ignite or maintain any fire or to participate in igniting, maintaining or using any fire within any park except in a designated stove or fire ring or (b) to ignite in any stove or fire ring any household rubbish or other material banned from outdoor burning by air pollution control regulations, or (c) to ignite or maintain a fire in any fire ring during any stage on an air pollution episode declared by the Puget Sound Air Pollution Control Agency. All fires within parks are prohibited between the hours of eleven p.m. (11:00 p.m.) and six a.m. (6:00 a.m.).

The Seattle Parks and Recreation website says:

Light fires only in designated fire pits. Burn only clean firewood like bare, clean dry cordwood (chemically treated wood like lumber releases a strong-smelling, dirty smoke into the air and burning pallets can leave nails and debris on the beach) Douse your fire completely with water before leaving. Dispose of trash and ashes in the containers provided for each.  Be considerate of others – no amplified music Alcohol is not permitted in Seattle parks. 

The Park closes at 10pm daily and everyone is required to leave at that time.  Residents are enouraged to call 911 to report disturbances, especially those after 10pm in the Park.

Go here for more information about burn bans and safety tips for use of firepits.

Also a neighbor noticed the sign is incorrectly spelled. Who can find the misspelling?

Fire Yesterday In Community Center Of UW Family Housing On Mary Gates Drive

Yesterday around 5pm, about 20 fire department vehicles responded to a fire in the Community Center at the UW Family Housing on the 4200 block of Mary Gates Drive.

Neighbors reported smoke coming out of the windows and vents on the roof.

The Fire Department posted on Twitter yesterday at 5:35pm:

Firefighters on scene at 4200 Blk Mary Gates Memorial Dr NE with smoke visible from the structure. Report from staff members that occupants are out of the building.

At 5:45pm SFD posted:

Fire is under control, and Fire Investigators are en route to determine cause.

And at 11am today SFD posted:

The cause of yesterday’s fire at the community center has been ruled as “Undetermined” by Fire Investigators.

The Seattle Fire Department Blog stated:

U-District Kitchen Fire in a Community Center  

At 5:23 p.m. on Tuesday, May 8, firefighters were dispatched to the 4200 Blk. of Mary Gates Memorial Dr. NE for a report of a kitchen fire.  

The first arriving engine saw smoke coming from the first floor. Crews quickly put water on the fire and kept it confined to the kitchen and common area, and the fire was extinguished within 30 minutes.  

All occupants had safely exited the building prior to Seattle Fire’s arrival. There were no reported injuries to members of the public or to any firefighter. There was a total of 20 apparatus on scene, including 6 engines and 3 ladder trucks. 

Fire investigators responded to the scene and were unable to determine a cause of the fire. The estimated loss to the structure was $300,000 and $50,000 to contents.

Tomorrow Annual Neighbor Appreciation Day And Fire Station Open House

Tomorrow is the Annual Neighbor Appreciation Day sponsored by the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods.

The City website says:

We invite all Seattle residents to celebrate Neighbor Day by indulging in random acts of kindness. It is a special day set aside to reach out to neighbors, make new friends, and express thanks to those who help make your neighborhood a great place to live.

The Department of Neighborhoods has posted a list of participation ideas, as well as ideas for local businesses or community groups. 

Some ideas include doing something nice for a neighbor, organizing a neighborhood potluck, open house, or work party, joining in a neighborhood service project to clean up a park, plant trees, organizing a neighborhood cleanup, holding a bake sale for charity or to raise money for a neighborhood project, sharing a “great neighbor” story with #NeighborDay.

To celebrate the occasion, Seattle Fire Stations will be open to the public from 11– 1pm. 

Residents can stop by their neighborhood fire station to meet firefighters, tour the station and learn about firefighting equipment.

Station 38 (4004 NE 55th Street), serving Laurelhurst, and surrounding neighborhoods, will be open and welcoming visitors. 

A neighbor said "It's a great chance to stop by for a visit and a chance to meet the firefighters in your neighborhood."

"Visitors should be aware that firefighters may need to respond to an emergency and close the station to visitors during that time. Firefighters will return after the alarm and re-open the station," the website says.

For more information go here. 

Fire Department Holiday Tips

The Seattle Fire Department published this information:

Holiday Safety Tips

The Seattle Fire Department would like to remind residents to be mindful of fire safety during this holiday season. Holiday-related home fires primarily involve cooking, heating and electrical sources. Busy kitchens can lead to unattended stoves. Cold winter weather results in high use of space and wall heaters. Festive lights can be temptation for the use of overloaded outlets and dangerous extension cords. 

Here are some tips to keep you safe:

1. 1. Cooking is the number one cause of holiday fires. Make sure to be present while you are cooking and keep children three feet away from the stove.
   2. If you do have a pan fire on the stove, put a lid on it to extinguish the fire. Never use water on a grease fire.
   3. Consider using electrical candles or decorations. If you use real flames, blow out  candles before leaving the room or going to bed.
   4. Keep holiday decorations at least three feet away from heat sources.
   5. Water your tree daily. Make sure to turn off all holiday lights on the tree and around your house when you go to sleep or leave the house.
   6. Utilize a power strip with an internal circuit breaker so you don’t overload electrical outlets. Never connect more than three strings of holiday lights together.Make sure your smoke and CO alarms are working so you and your family can get out safely if a fire starts.For more information, visit the Seattle Fire Department’s Holiday Tips video.  The Seattle Fire Department wishes you and your family a happy holiday season.

Young Man Passes Out In Neighbor's Yard, Possibly Same Individual Reported Several Days Prior In Separate Incident

Medics responding to individual passed

out on August 19th

Last week the Laurelhurst Blog posted about an unknown person wandering in the back yard of a resident's home in the 3800 block of 42nd Avenue NE on Thursday, August 17th. 

The resident described the individual as a male with shaggy strawberry blonde hair above the collar,  wearing a maroon hooded sweatshirt and grey sweat pants and had a medium build of about 5'8 to 5'10.

On August 19th, another resident called police about a young male with strawberry blond hair on her property, on the 3300 block of East Laurelhurst Drive, telling the Laurelhurst Blog:

At 5:58am on the morning of August 19th, a male in his late teens/early 20's came through a gate, up some stairs to our house with strawberry blonde hair, black sweatshirt with graphics, black sweatpants, bright green stocking feet and looking confused. He wasn't carrying anything.   

My husband told him to leave.  He asked if we lived here, then said he had been drinking with a friend, female, "she might be a nanny, I woke up in the street, I don't know where I am, don't mean to seem sketchy, I don't know what house she's at.....I'm sorry, I don't know where I am..." 

He then stood out on the street looking up and down and headed up 47th Avenue NE in the 3400 block. He wondered next door to our neighbors' front steps and we noticed he then had black tennis shoes with white bottoms when he was lying on the stairs. Perhaps he had he stashed the shoes. There's construction going on at our neighbor's, with a  porta potty. He didn't hide his face, or run off.  Then he "passed out."   

We called SPD non-emergency and they said they were "coming by in 5 minutes."  When they arrived, they had to wake him as he didn't even hear the siren.  Whether it was alcohol or a combination of others, we don't know, but, as you can see in the picture, the fire truck was only feet away, with sirens blaring (sorry neighbors!), and it did not wake him. 

The Seattle Fire Department Medics arrived and took him in their truck to the closest bus stop, by Seattle Children's Hospital.  They were having a serious conversation with him.

 

Neighbor Discourages Fireworks, Especially Near Eagles And Fire Department Advisory

A neighbor wrote to the Laurelhurst Blog:

Please put out a plea to the neighborhood to do all they can to discourage fireworks from being set off in the neighborhood.  Besides being dangerous for people, there are nesting eagles and many other birds in the neighborhood as well as many, many dogs who do not do well the noise from fireworks.

The Seattle Fire Department sent out this notice:

Be Safe this July 4^th and Leave the Fireworks to the Professionals

Seattle Fire Department, Harborview  Medical Center and the Seattle Police Department are reminding the community to stay safe this Fourth of July.

Fireworks pose a fire hazard to property and present a safety risk to those who use them. Every year, the Seattle Fire Department responds to fireworks-related fires and injuries. These incidents could have been prevented by leaving the fireworks to the professionals.  

There were 481 fireworks-related injuries and/or fires reported to the Office of the State Fire Marshal by fire departments and hospital emergency rooms in 2015, an 11 percent increase over 2014. Of the 481 incidents, there were 241 injuries and 240 fires resulting in more than $600,000 in property loss.  

On the Fourth of July, 911 centers can become overloaded with non-emergency fireworks calls. Do not call 911 unless you have a life-threatening emergency and need immediate help from police, fire or medics.  

Last year, Harborview Medical Center, an entity of UW Medicine, treated 54 patients who had been injured as a result of fireworks. Injuries ranged from finger amputations to fractures and burns to faces and hands. This year, Harborview has already seen 11 patients with fireworks-related injuries. 

Any fireworks-related fires or injuries should be reported directly to 911. Other fireworks violations may be reported by calling the Seattle Police non-emergency number at (206) 625-5011.

Gas Leak Yesterday On West Laurelhurst Drive Sends Multiple Fire Engines To The Scene

The Laurelhurst Blog staff received many emails asking about the multiple sirens heard in the neighborhood yesterday afternoon.


Around 1:45pm yesterday, a code green went out on the Seattle Police 911 scanner about a "domestic natural gas line leaking" in the 3000 block of West Laurelhurst Drive.


Several fire trucks responded and a few minutes later it could be heard on the scanner from a fireman on scene that "it was a minor leak comparatively speaking" and that it was being handled.


The Laurelhurst Elementary School notified parents saying that they were "monitoring the situation, in communication with the fire department, and everyone at Laurelhurst is safe."

Illegal Fire Pit In Tree Stump Removed By Seattle Parks And Recreation



Last month, the Laurelhurst Blog reported about an illegal fire pit built into a tree stump right next to the City fire pit in the park.

A neighbor commented at the time:

It's pretty bad.  That's all I know. Why they couldn't use the fire pit 100' away is unknown."

 

Seattle Parks and Recreation has since been removed and ground down the stump to prevent its use as a firepit.
 
David with Parks said that:

Fires are indeed illegal in any park except in designated barbeques and in fire rings at either Alki Beach or Golden Gardens Beach.

The Seattle Municipal Code 18.12.270 - Fires says:  

It is unlawful (a) to ignite or maintain any fire or to participate in igniting, maintaining or using any fire within any park except in a designated stove or fire ring or (b) to ignite in any stove or fire ring any household rubbish or other material banned from outdoor burning by air pollution control regulations, or (c) to ignite or maintain a fire in any fire ring during any stage on an air pollution episode declared by the Puget Sound Air Pollution Control Agency. All fires within parks are prohibited between the hours of eleven p.m. (11:00 p.m.) and six a.m. (6:00 a.m.).

 

 

Talaris Pressured to Finally Cut Dry Grass After Fire Hazard Concerns From Neighbors And Fire Department

Weeks of unmowed grass at Talaris

 



The Laurelhurst Blog and the Laurelhurst Community Club (LCC) have received numerous  complaints about the very tall overgrown grass at Talaris.on NE 41st Street.

In May, Talaris suddenly stopped cutting the grassy meadow, where for decades kids used to play and sports teams used to practice until Talaris one day fenced the area and put up cameras.

Patients at the nearby dental office on the backside of their property also have been regularly complaining as they look their view their big picture windows is "onto a mess."

Nathan Rimmer,  one of the representatives for Talaris owner, Bruce Mc Caw under the name 4000 Property LLC, said  in May that "Talaris cut back on some site and building maintenance last fall to help relieve the annual operating loss.  Landscaping was part of that."

Another Talaris representative told a neighbor recently:

After a serious review of the economics, the annual cost to mothball the property is almost identical to the annual operating loss – we could shut down the operation and still lose the same amount of money.  Our focus on landscaping, then, is simply to put our resources where it benefits the business.  None of the conference center guests or conferences use the upper field, and therefore we spend fewer resources there. We have to focus on the customers who pay our bills. 

 

However, last week several neighbors became increasingly worried about the tall dry grass combined with the hot weather and the firecrackers that could be set off in that area.

At last week's Landmarks Board Meeting, an LCC Board member showed six  8 X 10 inch photos of "the tall grass and deteriorated conditions of the landscape at Talaris."  On November 7, 2013, Talaris was designated as a historic landmark subject to protection by City Ordinance, as stated on the City's Landmark and Designation website.   

The Board member said:

The pictures were 'for the record' on the project, as that Board has no jurisdiction to make them improve the site, and stated that at the meeting. One Board member suggested also that the Seattle Fire Department be contacted, and they did seem concerned about the conditions. 

LCC will continue to bring attention to this issue which could spark a chain reaction to adjacent neighbors if a fire begins at the site.  Thanks for taking the time to advocate for the issue and fire hazard!

 

A nearby neighbor said that she went to the fire station last week to voice concerns about Talaris not cutting the grass and the possibility of a fire.

Another neighbor wrote last week:

It would be great if neighbors could call the fire department and voice concerns. Maybe we can ask the Laurelhurst security patrol to visit the perimeter of the site. And, maybe we close neighbors can stay up and patrol. Anyway, we are all
very concerned about the possibility of fire.

At the end of last week, the Laurelhurst Blog received these emails:

Tractor and mower arriving at Talaris Tuesday afternoon.  Cutting to start Wednesday and probably take all day, possibly into Thursday as the operator gets pulled off to work on other jobs.  Should have the field cut before Friday. 

  

Another neighbor wrote:

Happy to report that when the concerns were expressed to the owner’s representative on Friday, he responded immediately and said that he would forward it to the property manager who manager and mowing is underway today.  All concerned are grateful for the efforts.

 

Fire This Morning At Home In 4300 Block Of NE 45th Street

Pictures taken shortly after 6am looking west on NE 45th Street:

Pictures taken shortly looking west on NE 45th Street after 7am:



 General area here fire occurred

An early morning fire in the upstairs of a home on the 4300 block of NE 45th Street caused "minimal damage" as one firefighter told an onlooker. A person on their way to work commented that the information on the scanner "didn't look really bad."
 
Shortly after 6am this morning, six fire engines came racing up NE 45th Street along with several other support fire vehicles. A chainsaw was heard cutting a whole in the 2nd floor roof and glass was broken in an upstairs window for more ventilation.
 
The family next door was seen with their small children going to another immediate neighbor's house during all the activity. Their house was not known to be damaged.

NE 45th Street at 45th Avenue NE was closed as well as 45th Avenue NE at NE 45th Street.  Cars were seen backing up on NE 45th Street after they had seen the cones blocking access to the area, then the vehicles were seen then turning northbound on 46th and 47th Avenues NE.

About 7am "Fire Support Vehicles," a City vehicle, as well as some new fire vehicles, started arriving and talking to the home owners who were standing out in front, most likely to start the investigation of the fire. There were no injuries.

As of this time, several fire engines are starting to leave but the streets have not been re-opened.
 
The Seattle Fire Department tweeted at 6:26am:

Firefighters at working fire 4300 Blk of NE 45th St. All occupants out of 2 story residence.

 

Another tweet was sent out at 6:43am - most likely referring to the same location, however another street was tweeted:

Small fire on 2nd floor "tapped". Fire investigators called to location. 4300 blk of NE 43rd st.