Blaine K-8 Damaged by Fire

Via SPD Twitter:

Police assisting the Seattle Fire Department and investigating fire in the 2500 block of 34th Avenue West. No one reported injured at this time. Suspect not located. More as information becomes available.

This was last night at in the early evening. 

There is chatter on Twitter that there is an encampment near the school; anyone? 

From the SPD Blotter:

A witness reported seeing a man setting a fire on the school property then leaving once the surrounding building caught fire. It appears the man was within an alcove near an entrance of the school.

The fire caused substantial damage to the school property, starting from the exterior and spreading into the interior before it was extinguished.

Via SPS Communications from Principal Patrick Gray:

This message is to update you about an incident that has impacted our school and will require us to cancel all classes on Monday, February 13, 2023.

A small fire broke out today, Sunday, February 12, 2023 on the outside of the school at the North East entrance (the Kindergarten entrance). The Seattle Fire Department responded rapidly to prevent the spread of the fire.

Fire damage was limited to a storage area just inside the entrance and there was no direct damage to any classrooms. The majority of the impact is smoke related and is significant enough that district leaders and I have made the decision to cancel classes tomorrow, in order to allow sufficient time for additional clean up and to ensure the building is safe and ready for students to return.

We expect classes will resume and school will be in session on Tuesday, February 14.

 

Comments

Anonymous said…
KOMO has picked up the story as well, citing the same SPD tweet. Hampson’s demand for “no sweeps” on school grounds continues to age poorly. What a mess.

Crowded Theater
2/13/23, 10:13 AM
K5News Reports said…
According to King 5 News...there is at least one parent that wants security.

2/13/23, 6:38 PM
Amanda F said…
My understanding is that there was no "encampment". Rather there was a single homeless individual who had been repeatedly seen in the area. The headline is the only thing I have seen using the word encampment.

Encampments obviously need attention. This type of incident, done by one person acting alone, while horrible, is honestly hard to prevent.
2/14/23, 7:19 AM
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