Fire crews responded to a fire along the unhoused stretch of tents on SW 152nd Street in Downtown Burien on Friday morning, June 23, 2023.
Officials said that the occupant of the tent where the fire originated stated he had been using a concrete basin as a means of warming “every night,” and left Friday morning to grab something to eat, with combustible materials not extinguished on his departure.
Upon his return, he found his tent and an adjoining tent had ignited.
King County Fire District #2 crews were able to extinguish the flames before any more damage occurred, beyond the tents and some neighboring trees.
This incident happened at the encampment on SW 152nd Street near 4th Ave SW in front of the Grocery Outlet/Dollar Tree (map below).
No injuries were reported, and occupants of the area were left with officers from the King County Sheriff’s Office, according to Ray Desmarais, Assistant Fire Chief.
Get used to it Burien… Seattle averages 4-5 fires every day caused by homeless people. Wait until the fire department has to put out one of those large meth lab blazes. Those are quite something to see (and smell).
Letting these people sleep in the streets illegally is not compassion. It is dysfunctional enabling of people who are not able or unwilling to make rational decisions. It is time to end this circus.