Seattle Fire investigators were trying to determine how a fire started Tuesday night on an upper floor of a new Capitol Hill apartment building.
SFD responded to the blaze just after 5 PM Tuesday in the 600 E Howell Clay Apartments that rose on the site of the former Redwood bar but reported that the seven-story building’s automatic safety systems had put the fire out. There were no reported injuries.
The Fire Marshal was called to the scene to investigate. Limited damage was reported.
UPDATE: SFD reports the fire was determined to have been intentionally set. Seattle Police is now investigating. Damage was limited to about $5,000, SFD reports.
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For what is worth, the Clay is a permanent supportive housing property owned by LIHI. The system for operating PSH in Seattle is broken. These properties provide housing for the hardest to house, and they are chronicly under staffed and under resourced in general. That mission to house the hardest to house, plus the current legal landlord/tenant realities, mean that this tenant, who intentially lit a fire, cannot be subjected to an emergency eviction. I don’t know the whole story, but knowing PHS, I’d guess they are putting their neighbors at risk, and LIHI has minimal legal remedy.
This story, of a tenant intentially starting a fire, is a sad reality in PSH and affordable housing in our city. We are, rightly, housing the hardest to house. They should not be on the street. But the PSH system is also not resourced with the wrap around care the many of these tenants need to stay safe or stable.
The system is broken, but the focus is on the “production” of new units, not having the units that already exist be successful. The City needs to be honest with itself what the true cost of operating these properties with the intended suite of wrap around services and fund it, or fund few new units.
There should be rules that keep people who don’t need tons of supports in separate buildings from those who need tons of mental help.
Also buildings that don’t allersow drug use so people who want to get clean can have better chance of success.
Plus – criminal background checks should be required and housing provided in separate buildings for those with violent criminal history.