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Renton Fire Authority must once again respond to the abandoned buildings on Garden and Park Avenue. Photo taken at about 8:30 PM today.
This evening there has been another fire call to the abandoned Park Avenue Buildings. Christopher Krystofiak, a firefighter with the Renton Fire Authority who helps with online media communication gave me the following details at 9:00 PM:
“Randy, it was black smoke from the roof. We have determined that all fire responses to this building will be defensive only due to the open elevator shafts and damage/hazards inside the building. Crews eventually located a small fire, quickly extinguished it and are releasing most of the apparatus as we speak.”
These buildings require an urgent fire response every time they catch on fire, as they lack the code required fire suppression systems. The systems were mined out of the buildings by metal thieves after lax security invited trespassers. If a fire spreads from floor to floor through the open elevator shafts it could turn into an inferno.
I had published my most recent article on these abandoned buildings ten days ago here, and that article includes links to earlier stories on documents concerning these buildings.
Renton Fire Authority responding to abandoned buildings on Garden and Park Avenue. Firefighters are using ladder trucks instead of the building’s stairwells to reach the roof due to the many hazards inside the building. Photo taken at about 8:00 PM today along Park Avenue (west side of building)
More units were positioned defensively on the north side of the building, many from neighboring jurisdictions. If the fire had grown into an inferno, these rigs were positioned to reduce the chance of it spreading.
What a mess. If only there wes a person with a blog who could have warned Renton and provided solutions over the last two years.