UPDATE: Construction-site arson at 18th/Roxbury, second fire there in 11 months

1:33 AM: Seattle Fire is sending a “full response” to 18th and Roxbury. Updates to come.

1:39 AM: Arriving units report flames from the first floor of a three-story building.

1:42 AM: SFD describes the building as an under-construction townhouse.

1:46 AM: The fire is reported to be under control, an “exterior fire.” Meantime, we don’t know if it’s the same site, but there was a fire at under-construction townhouses in that same area last July.

1:50 AM: They’ve told dispatch that traffic is closed westbound on Roxbury starting at 17th.

2:20 AM: The fire’s out and no injuries are reported. SPD and SFD are investigating whether it was a set fire.

(WSB photo)

10:24 AM: We just went over to the site (including the photographer who covered last year’s fire). This fire was in the northeast building on the site; last July’s fire (linked above) was in the southeast building.

11:27 AM: SFD spokesperson Hilton Almond tells WSB, “Fire investigators have determined the fire was intentionally set and has been referred to Seattle Police Arson and Bomb Squad.”

Bunnyfer June 25, 2023 (1:41 am)

I can smell smoke in the air at 35th and Roxbury

EJ June 25, 2023 (2:30 am)

Unbelievable. Except, totally believable. I don’t know who in their right mind would want to live there with two fires in less than a year before the things are even fully built. This city is going to hell in a hand basket.

Roseannadanna June 25, 2023 (3:07 am)

This is the second fire at this construction site. These townhouses have been under construction since 2020. This property has been a blight on the neighborhood… shame on these landowners.

North Admiral Neighbor June 25, 2023 (11:05 am)

Huh, shame on these landowners for being victim to two arsons?Kudos for the landowners for adding desperately needed housing to the neighborhood that there is a huge shortage of
flimflam June 25, 2023 (12:16 pm)

Shame on the landowner? Seriously? For being victimized by arson twice? Wow, what an odd sentiment.
Craig Crisler June 25, 2023 (2:23 pm)

Shame on landowners did I hear that right.like my pops always told me think before u act or say anything. I love this city and would like to see it become what I know it will if we have people willing to work but with that kinda attitude just shows why investors are scared to invest in our city.
- Jort June 26, 2023 (12:33 am)
  
  This city’s home prices are among the highest in the country, so it doesn’t seem “investors” (aka homeowners) are really that “scared.”
1994 June 25, 2023 (5:22 pm)

Surely the first fire caused a delay in the construction process. A fire-setter might find more of a thrill at having to navigate through a fenced construction site to meet their objective….disturbed people are a challenge! and there may be no stopping them.

Sam June 25, 2023 (6:47 am)

Are these the same townhouses that also caught fire a few months ago, across the street from Salvadorean Bakery?

Gill & Alex June 25, 2023 (8:46 am)

WSB, can you tell us if this is the same group of townhouses that were set on fire last year? They are north across Roxbury from the Holy Family Catholic Church facing 20th Ave. S.W. and still under construction.

937 June 25, 2023 (9:15 am)

Once could be an accident. Twice is a pattern

ltfd June 25, 2023 (2:43 pm)

It’s arson. No “pattern”, other than ongoing criminal activity.

Cornelius June 25, 2023 (10:30 am)

AJ June 25, 2023 (11:36 am)

Somebody really loves the sounds of construction and doesn’t want it to end.

Alki resident June 25, 2023 (11:39 am)

I knew this would happen again. Someone doesn’t want this building there.

Peter S. June 25, 2023 (12:51 pm)

Or, it could be that someone gets their jollies from watching things burn and this is a convenient location.

Joe June 25, 2023 (4:05 pm)

We all pay for this in the form of higher insurance costs. The owner will just file a claim and rebuild it again.

Jimmy June 25, 2023 (7:37 pm)

I’m not sure if anyone is living in the apartment. It’s good that no one was hurt. I’m not sure how long it takes for fire insurance takes so that the builders can fix the fire damage, but apparently more than a year since last summer fire damage has not been repaired. Hence the plywood on a part of the building where the fire occurred last summer. It’s a sad occurrence for the community.

DMZ June 25, 2023 (9:55 pm)

All of you are completely missing the point. This spot was obviously set on fire because people are sick of these “land developers” who are nothing more than land sharks out for a quick buck. They keep erecting these ugly, uninspired monstrosities that no one wants to live in and that keep making rent and land tax go up. To say housing is desperately needed is an outright lie. Just go ask the banks, they own enough vacant and foreclosed houses to give one to every homeless person in the U.S.

foop June 25, 2023 (10:55 pm)

By this incredibly flawed logic well start to see all the Airbnb’s on Alki burn next, right?
Mel June 26, 2023 (12:32 am)

Sooooo many flaws in pretty much every part of those statements, considering Seattle’s acknowledged lack of home inventory (which is actually what makes “rent and land tax go up”), but I just can’t stop laughing at the theory of a building sitting unfinished for years being “a quick buck.”
- Amy June 26, 2023 (11:31 am)
  
  The problem with tearing down old (cheap) houses to build two (or more) new ones in its place is that while it increases the available housing stock, it also removes a cheap house, replacing it with two expensive ones. The only people benefitting from this increased housing supply are the developers and the realtors.
K June 26, 2023 (5:52 am)

Uh… that’s not how taxes are calculated. And “banks” who own a bunch of abandoned homes in Detroit aren’t exactly going to help the housing crunch in Seattle. People would far prefer to live in these “ugly monstrosities” than RVs on 16th, and I’m sure you’d rather have people living in houses than RVs as well, so please educate yourself and think before you speak.
- Oh Seattle June 26, 2023 (4:22 pm)
  
  So far, building thousands of $800k townhouses hasn’t had much effect on getting people out of RVs.
Joe June 26, 2023 (8:15 am)

Wow, you’e defending the arsonist. Well, just about everything around here was built by someone or some entity that was trying to make a buck. As far as calling it ugly, I kind of agree but isn’t it still an improvement as compared to what was there before?

2 centavos June 26, 2023 (11:58 am)

I live in White Center right nearby and let me tell you, I think this fire is much less likely to be a planned arson sort of thing than a “I found a convenient spot to do drugs and forgot to put out my fire” sort of thing.