When you park in front of a hydrant on Capitol Hill pic.twitter.com/RapY12z7g2

— jseattle (@jseattle) July 26, 2021

A Sunday afternoon fire scorched the inside of a Summit Ave apartment building and provided a valuable life lesson: Never park in front of a fire hydrant on Capitol Hill.

“It’s a life safety concern, and we will take measures necessary to be able to connect to the closest hydrant,” Seattle Fire Department spokesperson Kristin Tinsley tells CHS. “Additionally, vehicle owners can be cited by SPD for a parking violation for parking in front of a hydrant.”

Sunday’s fire in the 1700 block building was caused by an electrical malfunction in the range control panel and did $42,500, Seattle Fire says. Fortunately, there were no reported injuries and the fire was quickly brought under control and contained before it spread. But a photo taken by neighborhood resident Chase Burns of The Stranger of the firefighter response has spread far and wide.

It turns out, firefighters really will bust your windows and run a hose through your vehicle if you park in front of a hydrant.

SFD says no one was inside the unit — they’re packing up now pic.twitter.com/nfwNq8DE6p

— Chase Burns (@chaseburnsy) July 25, 2021

Tinsley says, in the situation on Summit, firefighters had no choice but to act quickly and get water on the fire:

The hydrant in question was the only hydrant in the middle of a long block, and was about 50-70 feet from the fire building (kitchen fire in apartment unit). For structure fires, we require the larger diameter connection on the hydrant, which was facing the street directly next to the vehicle. In our Policy and Operating Guidelines, it places a high degree of urgency on the crews to obtain a water supply within 3-4 minutes of arrival to support interior fire operations.

“Obtaining a water supply allows us to be most effective in firefighting operations, and possibly save someone’s life,” Tinsley said.

As for the vehicle’s owner, paying for the damage to the car will depend on their insurance coverage. If someone believes the city is at fault, they can also file a claim managed by the Finance and Administrative Services department. Good luck!

No butts
Meanwhile, another recent Capitol Hill fire provides yet another extremely expensive lesson. Seattle Fire says the Sunday, July 18th blaze atop a townhome at the corner of 19th and Union did $40,000 in damage to the residence and was started by “discarded smoking material in a planter box.”

“It is important to never discard cigarettes in vegetation such as mulch, potted plants or landscaping, peat moss, dried grasses, leaves or other things that could ignite easily. A small cigarette butt in dry conditions can turn into a major fire,” Seattle Fire says.

Seattle Fire reminds that smoking is not legal on on multi-residential building rooftops and advises dousing your smoking materials with water and making sure “proper cigarette disposal canisters” are available in areas where smoking is allowed.

With dry conditions, tossing a lit butt can also cause fires in parks and parking strips, and in garbage cans and dumpsters. Capitol Hill definitely does not need any more dumpster fires.

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