Kent fire forces evacuation of 90 apartment units

KENT, Wash. — One person broke a leg jumping from a third-floor balcony to escape the flames and nearly 100 families were evacuated after fire spread through the Woodland Estates Apartments in Kent on Friday morning.

Within moments of the two-alarm fire erupting in a fourth-floor unit just after 9 a.m., 10 engines and four ladder trucks from the Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority and other jurisdictions responded to the complex in the 4800 block of Kent Des Moines Road.

Capt. Joe Root, of the PSRFA, said 90 units had to be evacuated. “When firefighters get to a multifamily building like this, safety is always first and foremost. Because of all the units and occupants clustered together, that’s the primary challenge.”

According to Root, the cause of the fire has not yet been determined.

Renter Chad Svenhard was at work when he received a text that his building was on fire. “I started freaking out” he told KIRO 7, because he was concerned about his dog, Bandita, inside his first-floor unit.

“With animals, smoke inhalation is really bad,” Svenhard said. “I didn’t want to show up and have her not be alive."

Bandita is fine, but tonight – she and all the other occupants of the building have to find another place to stay.

The Red Cross is helping find shelter for those who need it.

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