VIDEO/PHOTOS: Seattle Fire Department Chief Harold Scoggins believes the city needs to take a harder line on abandoned buildings, perhaps increasing the ability to tear down structures at risk of fire.
He told the Seattle City Council’s public safety committee that his department has already responded to 22 vacant building fires this year, including the latest on Rainier Avenue early Tuesday morning. Scoggins also cited the fire on New Year’s Day off of Madison Street that has closed that main arterial for weeks for cleanup.
“We hope to get more authority to do more and have some of those buildings taken down before they get to the big fires,” Scoggins said in an interview with KOMO News.
Last fall, the mayor and council agreed to stiffen penalties for owners of vacant buildings that are at risk of collapse or fire.