A Devastating Fire kills 5, Shocks the Seattle Ethiopian Community

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ywJCm4s5Uh808rTU4UHIhfTf5h8-large — Mayor McGinn speaks with members of the Ethiopian community at 19th & Yesler. Photo, centraldistrictnews.com

A sleepover among cousins turned tragic Saturday when a fire broke out in a Fremont apartment, killing four children and their aunt, according to fire officials and friends of the family.

Within minutes of the first report of the fire at 10:04 a.m., the two-story, three-bedroom unit in a complex at 334 N.W. 41st St. was an inferno.

The first firefighters to arrive were impotent in the face of intense smoke and flames because a mechanical failure on their engine left its hoses flat and empty. The attack on the fire was delayed until another truck arrived.

A 22-year-old woman; 13-year-old boy; 7-year-old girl; 6-year-old girl; and 5-year-old boy perished, said Helen Fitzpatrick, Seattle Fire Department spokeswoman.

Two other women who were “distraught, not injured” were taken to Harborview Medical Center along with a 5-year-old child, who was not injured.

A firefighter suffered minor injuries when he jumped from a truck to move a length of hose that had fallen onto the Fremont Bridge as the truck was racing to the fire, Fitzpatrick said.

Friends say the woman who rented the apartment lost three of her children. She apparently fled the apartment with one child and then was restrained by neighbors who feared she might run back into the flames.. Read More

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