Firefighters had to hack their way through welded-shut doorways to battle a blaze Thursday morning at the old Seattle Times building, fire officials said.
Crews were dispatched to the scene, at John Street and Fairview Avenue, at about 6:50 a.m. after receiving reports of black smoke coming from the abandoned building. When they arrived, they found the doors to the building had been welded shut, so they had to force their way in using axes and chainsaws.
Once inside, firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze, which was confined to the first floor.