Watch WA Firefighters Battle Intense Apartment Fire

One man suffered minor injuries and 30 people were displaced as a fire swept through a Skyway apartment building early Wednesday, King County fire officials reported.

The fire at the Greentree Apartment Homes in the 6900 block of South 123rd Street extensively damaged multiple one-bedroom units in one building in the complex, Skyway Fire Chief Eric Hicks said. Twenty-one of the 24 units in the building were occupied, the chief said.

"We were able to contain it to just the one building," Hicks said. "We're working with property management, who may be able to house some residents in vacant units, as well as in combination with the Red Cross."

Fire crews responded to the three-alarm blaze at 1:43 a.m., according to a Wednesday afternoon statement from the King County Fire District 20 (Skyway Fire). Arriving crews found the fire had burned through the roof and attic of the three-story building, "causing some level of fire, smoke or water damage to all of the apartment units in the building," the statement said.

As of 3 p.m., all of the building's residents — 24 adults and six children — remained displaced and were in the process of being relocated to other vacant units in the complex or receiving housing assistance from the American Red Cross, the fire district said.

About 60 firefighters from multiple jurisdictions battled the fire for about an hour and a half before controlling it, Hicks said. Narrow driveway access to the building complicated the response, he added.

One man who lived in one of the burned units was treated for minor injuries at the scene and taken to Harborview Medical Center, the chief said. No firefighters were hurt.

Fire investigators are trying to determine what caused the blaze, Hicks said.

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