Seattle Mayor Ed Murray says the Greenwood business district will rebuild after what he calls a “devastating disaster” that destroyed businesses and inured nine firefighters.
As people in the residential area are learning how it happened, cleanup crews and investigators could be at the scene for hours. (Read our breaking coverage here.).
Among the businesses damaged or destroyed in a natural gas explosion in a North Seattle neighborhood was Neptune Coffee, Mr. Gyro and a bike shop called G&O Family Cyclery.
Below are before-and-after photos of the strip where the businesses were leveled. (Navigation note: Move the slider back and forth to see before and after.)
The above frame shows where Neptune Coffee stood as a business.
This wood frame building was constructed in 1910 for these two shops. Net footage is 1,806 square feet. Overall lot size is 7,951 square feet.<span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;color:#111111'><o:p></o:p></span>
Across the street stands several business with windows blown out by the explosion. Business such as Space Travel Supply Co. are still standing with damage.
Above is another before-and-after of the strip with an older photo of the Neptune.
Seattle firefighters were called shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday to a gas leak at a building in the 200 block of North 85th Street near Greenwood Avenue North.
Forty minutes after firefighters responded, an explosion reduced the building to rubble.
[ Read our breaking news story about how the chaotic scene unfolded here. ]