Seattle firefighter shares strategy for battling flames in sweltering heat

SEATTLE — A fire in Seattle’s Green Lake destroyed a home Wednesday afternoon. Dozens of Seattle firefighters were on the scene and were able to contain the flames so it didn’t spread to other homes or structures.

“These guys are heroes they really step up and show up for us when we need them most,” Steve Lamb, the homeowner, said.

He rents the home out through Airbnb and said the renters weren’t home at the time. He said Airbnb would be providing the renters with another place to stay. Firefighters not only battled the flames and smoke but the sweltering heat. Temperatures soared into the 90s, making things even more difficult for firefighters.

“It’s already exceptionally hot to begin with and then of course wearing our firefighting gear makes it extremely hot and challenging,” Seattle Fire Department Battalion Chief Geoff Wall, said.

He said as soon as he arrived on the scene he called for extra crews because of the heat.

“When people come out of the fire we had a rehab area where we had them take their gear off and we were able to have liquids and refreshments and we also had a cooling fan,” Wall said.

Neighbors told us the flames were so big and there were embers flying, that they pulled out garden hoses to protect other homes.

“I see it’s two houses from mine, big flames coming up, fire engines start coming in there’s like 15-20 of them here. God bless their hearts and it was a huge flame all the neighbors were using hoses to spray their roofs to prevent the embers from catching on fire with their houses,” Heidi Witt, a neighbor, said.

Wall said they were concerned the fire could spread to other homes.

“The proximity of houses and how close they are together, it’s a huge deal,” he said.

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