When neighbors heard someone yelling Sunday evening from inside a West Seattle home and saw heavy smoke billowing out of the house, they rushed to help, Seattle Fire Department public information officer Kristin Tinsley said.
Six people headed into the house in the Arbor Heights neighborhood armed with fire extinguishers, but “the fire had already taken off,” Tinsley said.
Fire crews arrived soon after, and contained the blaze to the ground floor of the house in the 9800 block of 45th Avenue Southwest. On the first floor, they discovered a 74-year-old man with serious injuries. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center by the Fire Department in critical condition.
Two other people — his wife and another relative — were also at the property, Tinsley said. They were taken to a local hospital by private ambulance, in stable condition.
Investigators were able to interview the two people who were not seriously injured, who are in their 60s. The wife was in the backyard when the fire started, and the other man was inside, but escaped.
Fire officials received the call about the fire just after 7 p.m., Tinsley said, and had it contained within 12 minutes. It was extinguished by 7:50 p.m.
Fire investigators determined an overheated electrical power strip started the fire, causing an estimated loss of $200,000, according to the Seattle Fire Department.