SFD responds to a 2019 blaze in a “derelict” 10th Ave E house

Seattle officials say there are 40 buildings that could soon be torn down under emergency legislation passed Tuesday by the Seattle City Council.

CHS reported here on the plan from Mayor Bruce Harrell that gives the city power to tear down problem vacant buildings used by campers and drug users.

The law gives Seattle Fire Department Chief Harold Scoggins new powers “to take quick action to remedy derelict buildings that threaten the health and safety of our neighborhoods,” a statement from the mayor’s office said.

The city says fires in vacant buildings have become “a growing, serious problem for the city” with 77 incidents in 2021, 91 in 2022, and “a staggering” 130 fires in 2023, including the massive blaze last summer that destroyed the First Hill building home to low-income apartments and the Vito’s nightclub. That building had been shuttered for repairs following a previous smaller fire but had become popular with squatters and drug users.

“In the first three and a half months of 2024 alone, there were 30 fires in derelict structures,” according to a statement from the city.

The new law follows efforts last year to strengthen vacant buildings’ safety, security, and management. That legislation requires that building owners use stronger materials for keeping buildings secure, creates a quicker path to collecting fees for the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspection’s monthly inspections of vacant buildings, and improves coordination between departments on problem sites. Currently, 300 vacant buildings are being inspected monthly by SDCI as part of the program. Approximately 100 of these 300 buildings are on the Fire Department’s inspection list.

Under its monitoring program, the city has increased fees and frequency of required inspections to try to push landlords to take better care of emptied buildings.

The new proposal would add giving the fire chief the power to declare a property a “public nuisance.” If the property owner doesn’t act, a lien could be placed on the property and the city could order a demolition at the owner’s expense.

The legislation includes an emergency clause that will put the new rules into effect immediately.

The city says the Seattle Fire Department has identified more than 40 vacant buildings “potentially impacted by this legislation, all of which have had at least one fire” but funding is an issue. The city only has enough money budgeted under the legislation to allow SFD “to address” four buildings in 2024.

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