Update: The 84-year-old man who was pulled from the fire died early this morning, according to the Seattle Fire Department. The cause of the fire was an electrical malfunction, and damages to the home equal $300,000.
Earlier: Firefighters rescued a man from his burning Crown Hill home on Thursday night, rushing him to the hospital in critical condition.
“I saw flames shooting out of the house,” said Kirsten Franklin-Temple, who lives across the street on 12th Ave., just north of 85th St. “Two neighbors were already out here, one was using their hose to try to put out the fire, but by that time, flames were shooting to the second story. Another neighbor ran around the side of the house, yelling to see if there was anyone inside.”
(Photo by K. Franklin-Temple)
Firefighters arrived and “aggressively went into the house to fight the fire,” explained Lt. Sue Stengl with Seattle Fire. Over the radio, fire crews said they were unable to locate anyone inside during a preliminary search in heavy smoke. “About 17 minutes into the fire is when they found a victim that was located in a bathroom in the back of the house,” Stengl said, adding that he had a heartbeat as firefighters rushed him to safety.
When we arrived on scene, medics were performing CPR on the elderly man in an ambulance. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center where’s he’s “fighting for his life,” Stengl said.
Neighbors tell us the man has lived in the home for several decades as one of the original homeowners in the Crown Hill neighborhood. His wife was not home at the time. Firefighters say the blaze is under investigation.
Earlier: At least one person sustained serious injuries at a house fire on 12th Ave. just north of 85th in Crown Hill. A neighbor tells us an older couple has lived in the home for several decades. We’re on scene waiting for more details, and we’ll update shortly.
(Thanks Silver for the tip and Kirsten for the Twitter updates and photo.)
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