MyBallard reader Rob headed to a fire call this morning just a few houses down from the building that was demolished earlier this week. He sent this account:
At 10:59am today a 911 call went into Seattle police and fire dispatch with the report of a fire in the abandoned house at 1737 NW 56th St. Units from nearby Station 18 and Station 9 along with Battalion 4 were dispatched. Upon arrival, Engine 8 established command with nothing showing. Firefighters had a hard time gaining entrance to the vacant building due to it being boarded up and wire mesh surrounding the building (as seen in video). After cutting down the mesh and entering the window the probable cause of the fire was found to be a few smoldering cigarettes on the roof. All units went back in service a few minutes later.
He shot this video:
![](https://www.myballard.com/wp-content/uploads/2024-My-Ballard-Tile-Ad-Troop-100.png")
![](https://www.myballard.com/wp-content/uploads/My-Ballard-ad-1.png")
Can this house be next to be torn down??????? for a go kart track??????
I never see anyone going in or out of this place. Maybe the junkies just have roof access.
I'm going to go ahead and jump to the conclusion this was teenagers, though.
Sad. That was once a nice house.
Everytime I walk by there, I think of Michael Myer's house from the Halloween movies. Maybe it's his Summer Seattle home and he was burning one of his victims?
Yea, it IS sad how many of the grand old houses of Ballard are falling by the wayside
:-(
Lets just hope that the building is resecured in a timely fashion.
Was probably a developer. I would assume burning is cheaper than tear down and haul off…then they could build more condoes! Or…..perhaps, maybe Trix's go kart track. Anything is possible if you dream BIG! Maybe it would be an elevated go-kart track viaduct-like thing, built up over the mini-golf course, with underground parking and laser tag!!!!
How odd….I walked by this house this morning, maybe an hour or so before this call was placed. Did not see anyone lurking.
At first glance, from a distance, it looks like another candidate to become Meth House II (or is it III?). Upon closer examination, though, it looks like it has been “hardened” against break-ins, and pretty effectively – all the ground floor windows are boarded up tight with plywood, and the entire front porch is closed off with stout wire mesh. I could see no place where vagrants had forced their way in. I also saw no external fire escape or stairway that could be used to gain access to the roof (I looked carefully at the front and both sides, did not go around back to see if it was as effectively sealed up back there). It looked like it would be impossible to get into.
It was once a nice old house, and from what I could see, it didn't look like it was too far gone to save if someone wanted to (although I couldn't see much of the interior).
“STAY OUT” was spray painted on the front wall (behind the wire mesh). I got the impression the owners were doing everything they could to keep the vagrants from taking it over. Good for them.
I hope this old house can be saved. Most of all, I hope it doesn't turn into the next vagrant headquarters.
While we're throwing wild accusations and guesses around, does it not seem more likely that a cigarette would wind up on the roof of a two story building by way of the four story building with balconies right next to it? You'd have to be a heck of a cigarette flicker to get one up there from street level, but a good breeze would put one right there from the balcony.
Wild accusations and guesses are what we do best here. Kidding.
Yeah, that makes sense. Especially with all the warm weather, figure folks are out on balconies more.
Minor correction: 1737 NW 56th is actually the Landmark Apartments (the 6-story building next to the house in question).
This place has been a vagrant headquarters. I had to track down the owner after calling police. The owner has been great, they screened off the porch after the whole place became the late night party and sleeping spot. They would pitch the beer cans off the porch into the yard while making a loud ruckus all night. It is slated to be demolished. The mock up and project plans are here: http://trinitynw.com/T3DG/marketlofts.html
The condos to the right of that house look like hell. terrible looking building… just saying.
ha ha! thanks for the link. those new “market lofts” look like a luxury prison. especially the night shot. My god, why are there no more good architects anymore?
Didn't notice the ruckus, but I'm a couple of blocks away from it. Thanks for the link, Chicone.
Yeah, seriously, the building plan is horrifying. A little black box. I don't have an objection to new projects going in, but they keep coming up with these depressing little prison structures.
1737 nw 56th is a six unit apartment building called “the landmark” according to the king county assessor.
1727 is the house in question owned by:
TRINITY DEVELOPMENT GROUP L
7403 BRAEMAR DR
EDMONDS WA 98026
Which is a developer that has done an awesome job so far securing their tear down. Lets hope it continues. I agree with trix, most likely these smoldering cigarette butts came of a balcony from next door.
there is a tree on the side, people use it to climb up.
crack house I is gone, crack house ][ is now in effect. crackhouse ]I[ is the one next to dennys.
I agree that the mockup looks horrible. Basic Sketchup with no attempt to sell the design. The architects for this project are: http://www.pbelemental.com/pbinternational_mult…
They're known for very modern boxes, but usually done more tastefully than that horrid little rendering would have you imagine. If modern and simple isn't your thing, then I suspect you won't like much else they've done around here.
Haha, thats what it lookups like when some wanna be architects use sketchup to mockup a building for some wanna be developer.
I have to admit, PB elemental did have some interesting single family homes. But as a startup during the whole construction boom, they failed in recent months.
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/…
I can't really talk bad though, I'm out of work aswell.
Have you seen anyone climb the tree to the roof? Somehow I doubt that anyone would go through all the trouble just to be on a roof in sight of everyone.
I have been homeless at several points in my life. Contrary to popular belief, most homeless did not become so out of choice and not because they are lazy, stupid, or immoral. Many homeless people are victims of abuse in the form of neglect and abandonment by their parents or other caregivers. Some of them are simply victims of life’s tragedies, such as hurricanes, fires, or other catastrophes from which they simply don’t have the resources to recover. I invite you to my blog devoted to raising awareness on homelessness: Freethegods.com. There you will find an article I wrote on homelessness and pictures I have taken of homeless people. I always give them a dollar or two for the privilege of photographing them. I am often surprised by their cheerfulness and sense of pride. Often, they will show themselves to have some kind of talent. There is a fine line between genius and insanity.