Fires at homeless camps in Seattle are becoming all too common.
Just two weeks ago, there was a major fire at a homeless camp over an alleged drug dealing dispute.
Now there was another and there was so much smoke that it could be seen all over the city.
KING 5 News reports:
Encampment fire in Seattle caused by ‘reckless burning,’ investigators say
An encampment fire caused a massive plume of smoke to rise above downtown Seattle Monday afternoon.
The fire sparked in an encampment at Mercer Street near Fairview, close to an Interstate 5 on-ramp. Eastbound lanes of Mercer Street were blocked while firefighters worked on the scene.
There were no injuries reported and firefighters did not find anyone in the encampment.
Seattle Fire Department investigators say the fire on Mercer Street was intentionally set. A 46-year-old man was arrested for an investigation of reckless burning.
According to court documents, the man accused of setting the fire told officers at the scene that he was cleaning his tent when he knocked over a lit candle. He told police he did not initially notice the candle be knocked over, but attempted to extinguish the flames once his tent caught fire.
The smoke plume from the fire could be seen from across the water on Alki Beach.
See the video clips below:
Seattle encampment, fire pic.twitter.com/MnwOwIUdiw
— Glenn E. Malone, EdD (@GEMalone) August 15, 2023
Something is seriously on fire around Eastlake in Seattle right now pic.twitter.com/vzt50fOQ7J
— Sergey Yun (@iskra_9) August 15, 2023
Fire near downtown Seattle #fire #seattle pic.twitter.com/2WbEDuJfA3
— Hayssam (@destinatepath) August 15, 2023
WHAT A SCENE OFF I-5: Man arrested for reckless burning after fire erupts at Mercer Street encampment in Seattle
More from our @RyanTVnews here: https://t.co/0C3MjDmHUW pic.twitter.com/YcPxEzPTsU
— Steve McCarron KOMO (@SteveTVNews) August 15, 2023
For a progressive city that claims to care about the environment, Seattle sure has a lot of pointless and destructive fires.
(Image:Source)