SEATTLE (KOMO) — Crews responded to a large fire at an encampment next to an interstate that runs through downtown Seattle Friday morning.
The Seattle Fire Department (SFD) responded to the fire, was burning in a wooded area between the interstate and a local hospital, around 5:25 a.m.
One of the interstate's northbound collector-distributor off-ramps was closed for about two hours while crews responded to the scene. All lanes reopened to traffic around 7:30 a.m., the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) tweeted.
Photos and video from a WSDOT traffic camera show large flames in a wooded area between the interstate and Harborview. One of the photos shows what appears to be some type of structure at the encampment on fire.
SFD spokesperson David Cuerpo said the fire burned about a 100-foot by 50-foot area and spread to several trees, tarps and tents, but “did not extend up to Harborview Medical Center.”
Firefighters used a ladder truck parked on the I-5 off-ramp to spray water on the fire. Crews were able to get the fire under control shortly after arriving at the scene.
Viewer RC Cole shared photos of the fire with KOMO taken from the 40th floor of the Seattle Municipal Tower, which is located a couple blocks away across the interstate. Cole said it “sounded like bombs going off outside our office.Video from a WSDOT traffic camera shows what appears to be an explosion in the fire before firefighters arrived on the scene.
The windows in our office shook viciously and sounded like they were going to cave in on us,” Cole wrote in a Facebook post.Viewer Theresa Arbow-O'Connor shared a video of the fire in a KOMO Facebook group taken from Alki Beach. The video shows tall flames and a large plume of black smoke billowing over the Seattle skyline.
Cuerpo said one person was injured in the fire and checked themselves into a local hospital. No other information about the person injured is available at this time.
The cause of the fire is currently unknown.
The WSDOT, Washington State Patrol, the SFD and Seattle police responded to the scene.
The Seattle Police Department is leading the investigation.
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