On Tuesday dozens of residents at the Polaris at SeaTac apartments had a frightening wake-up call.
An early-morning fire forced them out of the complex and many were left stranded in the cold as firefighters tackled the blaze.
“At 6:50 this morning we were called for a fire in this building. Reports were initially smoke on the sixth floor,” said Eric Autry, representative for Puget Sound Regional Fire.
Multiple fire departments responded and Tukwila International Boulevard was temporarily shut down.
“Units arrived, started investigating that smoke as residents were evacuating, eventually making it to the roof where they found an air handling unit with some fire showing,” said Autry.
Many residents say they ignored the fire alarm.
“We didn’t leave, we stayed, me and my husband, because we’re used to it… It goes off multiple times a day usually. It’s usually just a false alarm,” said Kennita Wright.
Jesus Cardenas thought the same thing until he saw smoke.
“I started to see some smoke and then so I told my sister to get the kids out of the house and then it was really fast. In about less than a minute everything was dark, the hallways, the smoke, and everything,” said Cardenas.
Once outside, residents say they saw flames on the roof.
Firefighters say several units on the 5th and 6th floors have water damage.
As investigators look into what caused the fire, residents say they’ve smelled smoke in the building before.
“There is this really weird smell and smoke always come out of the fans in the hallways… We have this issue very often, everybody is concerned it’s very unsafe,” said Cardenas.
KIRO 7 reached out to the apartment complex about this issue and asked how they plan to accommodate residents impacted by the fire but has not heard back.