Seattle Police Department investigating string of dumpster fires

Seattle police are investigating the latest string of dumpster fires that could be potential arson.

One of them happened around 7 a.m. Tuesday near the 2000 block of 2nd Avenue in Belltown.

Chris Chadwick was at work in a building nearby and said he was among the first to spot the fire.

“I saw flames shooting out of this barrel so I ran to get the hose,” said Chadwick. “I called 911 kind of frantically.”

Chadwick said he also immediately pulled out a hose, hoping the flames won’t spread to an apartment building nearby.

“Smoke was going that way so I was yelling, 'Fire! Shut your windows,'” said Chadwick.

Around the same time, Seattle fire officials got reports of two other dumpster fires about 2 miles away near 7th and Maynard in the Chinatown/International District.

KIRO 7 reached out to the Seattle Police Department who said they are looking into who is responsible for these incidents.

Six months ago, KIRO 7 covered nearly two dozen dumpster fires in the Ballard area.

One damaged the outside of an auto shop.

So far, no arrests have been made and there is no word about whether these fires are connected to those in the International District and Belltown.

Aside from alerting authorities about suspicious activities, residents are urged to lock up their dumpsters and place them at least 5 feet from a building.

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