If you heard sirens around 3 am heading toward Alki early Monday morning Aug. 13 it was a fire caused by spontaneous combustion according to the Seattle Fire Department who released this story today.

The West Seattle Herald also spoke to a person (requesting anonymity) who knows the building tenants who said that the upstairs tenant made the 911 call.

From SFD
"Seattle Firefighters quickly extinguished a fire in an Alki 4-plex located in the 2600 block of 59th Avenue SW.

The Fire Alarm Center received a 911 call at 2:50 a.m. reporting flames coming from one unit of the house that was divided into four apartments. Engine Company 29 arrived to find smoke coming from a bottom floor unit of the two-story complex. Firefighters made a quick attack and knocked down the flames within a couple of minutes.

All of the occupants of the complex had safely evacuated by the time firefighters arrived.

Firefighters determined the fire was caused by spontaneous combustion. The fire began in an unoccupied unit that was being remodeled. The fire started in rags left behind from a floor refinishing operation. The damage was limited to minor damage to a small section of the floor. The estimated structure damage was $500.

Firefighters used fans to ventilate the smoke from the apartments and determined the air quality inside the unit was safe to allow the residents to reoccupy."