South End Life: What Some Beacon Hill Residents Lost — and Gained — in a Recent Fire

On Jan. 11, Kristen Adamson noticed a smoky smell in her apartment at Olympic View Manor. She checked the back and front of her building, but things looked the same as usual, so she thought maybe someone in the North Beacon Hill neighborhood had a fireplace going. A while later, someone banged on her door. She thought it was an Amazon delivery.

But when Adamson opened the door, she saw it wasn't a delivery person; it was another apartment resident, telling her to get out. The building was on fire. 

As she stood at the door, smoke filled her apartment. She scrambled back inside to find her cats, Seala and Tiggy, but she couldn't locate them. The smoke made it hard for her to breathe. She became disoriented. She had to race out of the apartment without them.

The fire department had originally been sent to a similar address in Capitol Hill before arriving at Olympic View Manor. By that time, the fire had become a two-alarm blaze. More than 70 firefighters responded to the scene, requiring upward of seven trucks. The Seattle Fire Department announced that the cause was likely unattended candles. A firefighter who was injured and a resident who suffered smoke inhalation were taken to the hospital and treated. Adamson's pets didn't survive.

"I really didn't think it would be fully engulfed so quickly. I thought the cats would hide, and I would be able to come and get them," Adamson said through tears. "I don't know if I'll be able to forgive myself, though I know deep down I did my best."

In all, about 38 people who lived in 17 apartments, including children as young as 2, were impacted, as their homes were charred, were smoke-contaminated, or suffered extensive water damage. Some residents have insurance; others don't. Some residents speak English as a second language. A sign currently up at the site says the building is uninhabitable. Weeks after the incident, residents continue to salvage belongings in their apartments, are taking unpaid time from work to search for new places to live, and are replacing clothing and furniture as they recover. 

Residents like Ivan, who only gave his first name, and his wife and children moved to a hotel in Belltown. Ivan says he and his wife lost two weeks of work looking for another apartment. Their children haven't returned to school, since being dislocated from Beacon Hill means more time spent in traffic and more money spent for gas to drive them to school — money the family doesn't have. Ivan says the family has been recovering from illness with fever since the fire. He suspects they got sick from being exposed to the cold and rain on the day of the fire. 

The family has been busy purchasing items and considering the costs of leasing and furnishing a new space. Ivan says he can't find two-bedroom apartments in Beacon Hill and is searching in Skyway. "Skyway's cheaper. It's a lot of stress for everybody. I'm looking at apartments. … Insurance won't pay for an apartment, It's $4,000 to $5,000. It's a lot of money." (In the time since Ivan spoke with the Emerald, he and his family have secured a new home.)

Raquel Hartwig, an 87-year-old resident, was taking a nap that Sunday to prepare for three consecutive days of work. When the fire department kicked in her door, Hartwig was close to unconscious. She was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation. "I couldn't see because of the smoke," she said. 

Hartwig stayed in the hospital for two nights. During that time, looters stole more than $20,000 of her jewelry and got into a few other apartments.

Upon release, Hartwig says the Red Cross volunteers would only drop her off at her home address, which was uninhabitable. 

Another apartment resident, Rushal Toston, still had hot running water and electricity in her unit, without obvious water damage. She was living in her apartment as she made plans to move. Toston happened to see Hartwig when she was dropped off. "I saw her and embraced her! I said, 'You come live with me!'" Toston said. 

Toston, a longtime educator and school crossing guard, said, "I'm 63 years old. I'm disabled. I don't have money, and I don't have a relative's house to sleep on their floor." 

"The trauma from this is real. Trauma has an impact on a person's well-being, the body, mind, and spirit. The faith goes away, the appetite might go away, the nerves can get bad. Parts of the body could be affected from the stress," said Toston, a cancer survivor. "The best medicine to help me deal with trauma is effective listening, quality time, hugs, conversations."

On the night of the fire, the Red Cross passed out assistance cards to help residents find shelter that evening. King County Metro set up two warm buses for residents to wait in while the fire was extinguished. Meanwhile, neighbors quickly organized with residents, helping to fill in any gaps. They brought food and warm clothing on the night of the fire. One neighbor, Krizten Breidenich, started a GoFundMe for the impacted community and secured food from local food banks as well as clothing. "We still have a long way to go" Breidenich said. "We still have to get people into homes, and then we need to furnish them."

Katie Kaminski, an apartment resident who's staying with a friend in Puyallup, says Breidenich helped start a chat group for residents to stay connected. The chat informed members when a pallet of food or a load of clothing was going to be delivered to the apartment complex. 

The chat was also used to clarify communication between residents and the management company. "There was confusion over who was responsible to take out the debris from the fire, when former residents could go into their apartment to get belongings, and when they needed to vacate." Kaminski said. Residents also realized that while some of them were getting their January rent reimbursed, others weren't, so they advocated so all residents would be paid back. The Emerald reached out to eLink Realty, the management company that oversees the building, but did not hear back before publication.

Yangbin Wu, who lives in the apartment building next door, was one of two neighbors who opened their apartments to Olympic View Manor residents for bathroom access on the day of the fire.

"Here it is, day 16 post-fire. After the first responders leave, it's still hard. Every day is a new challenge, trying to figure out how to rebuild," Wu said. "Tonight, Rushal invited me over for dinner. With all the things that she's going through, she made pasta dinner with salad."

Brian Stout, a neighbor and parent of a Beacon Hill International Elementary School student, offered translation services for residents who speak English as a second language and found resources for residents. He said, "I'm touched by how the community came together," adding, "It was a reminder of the limitations of the existing system. The system can't save us. We can. It's both sad, but also encouraging. We need each other, and we're all we've got."

Rainier Valley Food Bank (RVFB) Outreach Coordinator Viridiana Ortiz, who coordinates resources and financial assistance for community members, wrote in an email to the Emerald that “there is no exact process for situations like these."

Though RVFB didn't assist these residents, other organizations did: South Seattle Stroller Brigade, Beacon Hill Solidarity, Seattle Food Not Bombs, SODO BIA, El Centro de la Raza, local public elementary schools, and others. Neighbors have pitched in hours of care and assistance in talking through residents' cases and identifying needs and resources.

A GoFundMe continues to gather funds for impacted residents.