UPDATE: Damage to the Heritage Grove Apartments has been estimated at about $750,000, according to Renton Fire and Emergency Services.
The Renton Fire and Emergency Services has determined the fire-alarm system was functioning properly during a two-alarm apartment fire early Friday morning in the Highlands that injured two residents.
There were earlier reports about confusion among residents as to whether the apartment alarms where working. The cause of the fire has still not been determined and fire investigators remained on the scene as of late Friday afternoon.
It took two hours to put the blaze out and another two hours to put out flare ups and hot spots, according to the fire department.
The American Red Cross has set up a shelter at the Renton Community Center for some of the victims.
The Red Cross is assisting at least nine families with shelter, food, clothing and other immediate needs, following the fire at about 2:30 a.m. at the Heritage Grove Apartments, 1100 N.E. Sunset Blvd.
Fire units arrived to find flames coming from the third-floor windows and two patients on the ground outside, according to the fire department.
The fire was quickly upgraded to a two-alarm fire, with fire crews coming from Kent, Tukwila and Skyway.
The patients were treated at the scene and transported to Harborview Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.
The fire heavily damaged six units of the 24-unit building and heavy smoke damaged another 12 units. The remaining six units sustained some smoke damage as well.
According to the fire department, 24 of the residents were being sheltered by the Red Cross at the community center. The remaining residents found accommodations with friends or family.
Resident Ray Gage, 61, said he was surprised and puzzled when he woke up to the sound of fire crews hosing down the building at about 2:55 a.m. He said he was probably one of the last residents out of the building.
“I didn’t hear an alarm or anything,” he said. “I’m a sound sleeper, so it takes a lot to wake me up. I grabbed my clothes and ran out the door.”
Gage was immediately met by two firefighters who escorted him outside. He learned the source of the fire was upstairs and to the left of his apartment.
Gage said the smoke alarm in his apartment didn’t go off; he suspects the reason is that there didn’t appear to be enough smoke in his apartment.
He was one of the residents to seek assistance from the Red Cross, to whom he feels grateful. Gage drove down to the Renton Community Center later Friday morning to seek support and wait for word from the apartment property manager and his insurance company.
The Red Cross at Renton Community Center was expecting 20 to 30 people to come into the temporary shelter later Friday evening. Some residents carried on their lives, going to work and school today, said Vicki Lee, Mass Care Shelter lead for the Red Cross. She is expecting them to return around dinner time.
“We fed about 58 individuals, that included firefighters and clientele,” said Lee. “They decided then that they needed to open up a shelter because the units are burned. They can’t go back into the units.”
The Red Cross is going to provide shelter and food for the residents in need until housing can be provided for them. The Red Cross arrived at the apartment fire a little after 5 a.m. and opened up the temporary shelter at the Renton Community Center around 8:30 a.m.
The organization is working with the apartment management and other apartment complexes in the area to assist with finding new homes for those displaced by the fire.
The Renton Police initially assisted with telling residents about the fire, prompting those who did not respond to the alarms to evacuate their units. Police also assisted with traffic control, as Northeast Sunset Boulevard was closed for several hours.
The investigation into the fire is ongoing and damages have not been assessed yet. There were no injuries to firefighters.
