VIDEO: A weekend fire in Seattle severely damaged the Ballard Collective, forcing 15 artists and wellness practitioners from their creative workspace. The incident is prompting concerns that arson may be to blame, according to posters that went up in the area Monday afternoon. Firefighters battled the flames over the weekend, spending approximately an hour extinguishing the fire that left behind devastating damage to the building. No injuries were reported in the incident, and investigators continue working to determine the exact cause of the fire.
The posters from Arson Alarm Foundation circulating Monday suggested the fire may have been arson, with a dumpster fire appearing to spread to the building that houses the creative collective. For building manager Daniel deWolff, the crisis began with urgent messages Friday night. “I just started to get messages that there’s smoke, there’s fire, fire departments coming,” deWolff said. The damage became clear Monday morning as tenants arrived to assess the destruction. “I didn’t know about it until I walked in this morning, and I got an overwhelming smoke smell,” said Mitzi Medina, office manager at Dentologie, a business next door to the Ballard Collective.
