(Image: CHS)

The Seattle Fire Department says its investigation could not determine an official cause for Tuesday afternoon’s fire that charred the outside of the old Queen Sheba restaurant at Broadway and John.

“Fire investigators ruled the cause as undetermined,” SFD said. “The fire originated in a dumpster between two buildings and spread to the exterior and windowsills of one of the structures.”

SFD says damage was mostly contained to the exterior of the old house turned restaurant.

In October, a suspect was arrested for a fire determined to have been intentionally set at the converted 125-year-old house just off Broadway.

CHS reported here last year on the closure of the longtime Ethiopian favorite Queen Sheba after decades on the Hill.

Property owner and developer Dru Agarwal has been in the process of rehabbing the 1900-era building Queen Sheba has called home and giving the structure a new paint job after purchasing the property in 2021 for $1.8 million.

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