Seattle Fire Dept says Lake City strip mall fire was intentional

In the past week fires have destroyed both a Seattle strip mall and a shuttered movie theater.

Seattle Fire Department spokesperson David Cuerpo says they’ve determined that a fire at a strip mall off Lake City Way in northeast Seattle was set intentionally. Seattle police are now investigating.

Cuerpo said both fires occurred blocks from local fire stations, but spread too fast for the structures to be saved.

It was too dangerous for firefighters to enter the buildings, Cuerpo said. Instead they sprayed water from outside to contain the flames.

The Lake City commercial building was divided into eight units, seven of which were occupied with takeout restaurants and other tenants.

The Lake City building had an open space between the ceiling and the roof, which allowed the fire to spread quickly once it got into that space.

“When we arrived on-scene it was already a well-involved fire in which it did make it into that space,” Cuerpo said.

A fire at the Seven Gables movie theater in the University District was allowed to thrive because the theater has been closed since 2017, and alarm systems had been deactivated.

“There’s no alarm system to notify us of a fire until someone reports it. That’s one reason that fire spread so quickly,” he said.

Cuerpo said the cause of the fire at the Seven Gables movie theater is still undetermined, and they’re seeking more information.

The FBI says preliminary data suggests that arsons increased 19% nationwide in the first six months of 2020, with big cities and Western states being the hardest-hit.

Update: On Jan. 4, 2021, the Seattle Fire Department released its tally of fires in 2020 that warranted investigation. They documented a dramatic increase in fires that were deemed intentionally set, compared to the year before. "Incendiary" or intentional fires jumped 66% from 148 in 2019 to 246 in 2020. That included a string of fires on Rainier Ave. South and Beacon Hill last summer, and seven fires involving vehicles and debris the Central District in December.