Two crushed car bodies could be seen falling into the Duwamish River on June 26 during a fire aboard a salvage barge near Seattle Iron and Metal at 601 S. Myrtle Street.
Photo by Kimberly Robinson
The fire that took place on a barge in the Duwamish River June 26 did send materials into the water. At least two cars could be seen plunging into the water during the blaze. Now Seattle Iron and Metal has hired Global Diving and Salvage to boom the barge and conduct an underwater survey for any solid material that fell into the river, according to the Washington State Dept. of Ecology. They said on the morning after the fire that an, "Oil spill containment boom was placed around the barge at our direction once it was safe to do last night so as a precaution in case there are any further spills from that vessel. Also, boom was set in place at the outfall of the Seattle Iron and Metals industrial wastewater treatment system to provide additional control for any possible pollution run-off from the dock."
Seattle Iron and Metal will recover material lost in the river. Global Diving's Alex Hess said that the, "surest way to recover the cars would be divers/crane."
The fire was ruled accidental and did $1 million damage.