West Seattle, Washington
20 Sunday
ORIGINAL 1:42 PM REPORT: The fire department’s sending out a big response in that direction – a diver apparently got into trouble – report of CPR under way now – diver’s companions all out of the water and accounted for. 2:35 PM UPDATE: Scene was cleared by the time we got to Seacrest. Appears the diver was rushed to the hospital. 2:40 PM UPDATE: Information gathered at the scene by WSB contributor Christopher Boffoli, who took the photo above (more to come):
The injured man was recently engaged. He and his fiancee are avid divers. In fact, I learned that when he recently proposed to his girlfriend they were on a dive together. He put a ring in a shell and sank it in advance of the dive. When they found it he opened the shell and had an underwater sign to ask if she’d marry him. Today there were a handful of divers out there. This man was off diving on his own in 25 feet of water. The fiancee was not diving with him today but was on the scene and was visibly shaken. Another diver told me that when the diver did not come up his friends alerted the other divers who went over to where he was diving and executed a search.
2:55 PM UPDATE: According to the fire department’s media-hotline update, the diver is in his 40s and was indeed diving solo, and as Christopher learned, found unconscious underwater. The fire department did not have an update on his condition – we will check on that again later. More of Christopher’s photos:
2:35 PM UPDATE: Everything’s open again now.
ORIGINAL REPORT: Breaking news from WSB contributor Christopher Boffoli: A crash has closed the bridge heading toward downtown, around Fauntleroy. 911 website shows 2 fire/medic units on the scene. Sounds like they are diverting cars from Fauntleroy to Avalon. Right now you can see that on this city traffic cam showing the blocked-off Fauntleroy entrance to the bridge; here’s the latest image … 3 PM NOTE, live traffic cams now removed from this post because they’re no longer relevant BUT here’s an earlier photo of the 35th roadblock, thanks to Eric for sending it:
Just back from King County Superior Court, where former Huling Bros. salesperson Paul Rimbey 
was sentenced less than an hour ago for 1st-degree theft, after a jury found him guilty last month for his role in a scheme to steal from a mentally unstable dealership customer. His lawyer wanted the basic maximum, 3 months; the prosecutor asked for 18 months; the judge made it 9 months, with work-release provisions so Rimbey can continue at the fulltime job he says he just finally got after a year of trying to find work. He cried while pleading for leniency, and supporters/relatives in the courtroom cried too. 2:31 PM UPDATE: Here’s our full report:Read More
Just a few days ago, we published a WSB Reader Report about a car hit with eggs, and 2 other people added in the comments that they’d seen or experienced something similar. We’re listening to the police/fire scanner as usual during late-night watch right now, and just heard police responding to another report of “those eggers,” this time at California and Fauntleroy. If you see anything going on, remember, call 911. Vandalism is a crime.
Police are on the scene of an accident that’s causing some traffic trouble if you are trying to turn northbound on Delridge from westbound on Roxbury. Doesn’t look too major; we’re just alerting you to avoid the area (map).
WSB contributing photographer Christopher Boffoli is at the scene of a fire callout at 9231 32nd. He says it’s a small fire blamed on a candle that got knocked over. Photo to come. (P.S. The Fire Department has released information about the fire we covered this morning at 9000 20th SW, and we’ve added it to the top of our original report.) 8:18 PM UPDATE: Here’s one of the photos Christopher sent back. The call is closed now; no injuries, no noteworthy damage.
8 PM UPDATE: According to the fire department’s media-info line, this fire did $40,000 damage to one apartment and a hallway on the building’s third floor; investigators say it’s accidental, caused when combustible items were left too close to a hot-water heater. A woman and three children were living in the apartment and the Red Cross is helping them find someplace else to stay. No one was hurt. 12:58 PM UPDATE: Video clip showing the scene. Again, not a big incident, but certainly affected dozens of residents.
11:58 AM UPDATE: Just back with pix (and video to come). No visible smoke or flames from outside; firefighters have been working on ventilating the roof to clear out smoke that’s reportedly inside the building. No word about injuries, or extent of damage.
ORIGINAL 11:35 AM POST: 9000 20th SW – thanks for the e-mail and text messages – we’re en route to check it out. (33-unit apartment building owned by the city Housing Authority, according to property records; the SHA info page with building photo is here.) Scanner communication suggests some road blocking in that area, so stay away if you can. Map:
Just got a tip about an accident that’s blocked off Delridge. The only thing on the 911 log is a medic response to the 5900 block. We’ll see what else we can find out. 5:55 PM UPDATE: Just drove the length of Delridge; whatever was going on, has been cleared.
From WSB contributing photographer Christopher Boffoli, three photos of tonight’s amazing car mishap on 47th south of Wildwood, between the ferry dock and the Fauntleroy business district:
The woman driving the car was taken to the hospital. ADDED 8:15 PM: Here’s WSB video of a tow crew pulling the car off the cable:.
No definitive word yet on exactly what happened here, except for neighbors’ speculation that the driver had trouble negotiating a nearby curve.
Big “heavy rescue” fire callout right now to 9260 47th SW, which is between the ferry dock and the Fauntleroy business district. Heard some scanner communication from just-arrived crews talking about the stability of a car – we’re en route to check it out. 6:36 PM UPDATE: Sounds like some streets might be closed off in the area (this is near Wildwood/47th) because of possible danger that might involve power lines. 6:41 PM UPDATE: First word from the scene — a car is at a 45-degree angle to a power pole — medic crews are working on at least one person. Pix and video to come. Definitely avoid that area – here’s a map of where it’s happening:
You can watch it right now on channel 26 – public comment at the start of the school board meeting, and several people (including two students and two teachers) have spoken against the Denny/Sealth consolidation project. (It’s open public comment, for those who signed up ahead of time, so other topics are being discussed too; as mentioned last night, there’s a Denny/Sealth-related item later on the agenda.) More to come.
If you’re wondering why what seemed like half the fire department rushed a little while ago to 6050 42nd — it’s SOP to have a big callout when fire is suspected in a residence of any type, but in this case, it was just a chimney problem. 8:07 AM UPDATE: Details from WSB contributing photographer Christopher Boffoli, who says it was a “dirty furnace chimney that made smoke back up into the house – no injuries or damage.” Most of the units pulled back fairly quickly. Christopher’s photos:
One more note from this incident – our other WSB contributing photographer Matt Durham also checked out the scene; Matt, who also works as a professional firefighter, notes, “Often this (type of incident) is a result of a furnace that needs servicing such as cleaning and filter replacement. Dust falls into the burners and disperses a small amount of smoke through the house that smells like the onset of fire.” Good reminder for us all to keep an eye on the condition of our furnaces.
After four years, the West Seattle community-building group Megawatt just announced it’s shutting down. Full text of the Megawatt announcement is on its website; excerpt: “We have succeeded with many things and take pride in our vision for the community and commitment to high quality service. Unfortunately, our dreams exceeded our resources, and thus we have faltered in our ability to reach a point of sustainability with the organization.” 
10:45 AM UPDATE: If you wondered whether this has been coming for a while — given that Megawatt announced in October it would have to cancel the annual “Gathering of Neighbors” that had been set for November — we asked Mark Wainwright, Megawatt board member, and he said, “It hasn’t been coming for awhile. We were sincere when we said that we wanted to come back with a great GON in 2008. At least for the last year, we’ve been running very lean, so it’s not like we just ran out of money. We didn’t have much to begin with. The decision was a recent and tough one.”
1:11 PM UPDATE: WSB contributing photographer Christopher Boffoli got to the scene on Hudson west of 42nd first (and photographed part of the actual fire, as seen above and below) and reports:
Engine 32 and Ladder 11 are on the scene and a bunch of firefighters are watching the wires burn. Even they were scratching their heads about how weird it is. One firefighter told me that when they rolled up, a length of wire a block long was on fire. For some reason the wires are so hot that the insulation is burning off. They said there is nothing they can do but to let the insulation burn out. (You obviously cannot douse the wires with water). They said that afterward they have to watch them because the fire can weaken the metal and they can fatigue and come down.
ORIGINAL POST AT 12:46 PM: “Wires down” — That’s the label for a fire call happening right now in the 5000 block of 42nd. Heard some scanner talk about possibly restricting some access in the area; off to investigate. 12:59 PM UPDATE: Hudson blocked west of 42nd. Two engines on scene, including the one shown below:
Leave a few minutes early if you come from the Fauntleroy end of The Bridge – there’s a four-car fender-bender blocking the left lane on the eastbound side, roughly parallel with Delridge. Note the solid block of headlights in the background of this west-facing bridgecam (8:35 AM UPDATE: the city has shifted the camera angle, and it’s now simply showing the backup, still looking west):
Here’s the backup on Fauntleroy (camera pointing east):
8:18 AM SIDE NOTE: We just heard the first radio traffic report about the Bridge problem on our news station of choice — one hour after it happened. As with other matters of WS-specific interest, we will do our best to monitor traffic trouble for you during rush hours, and we also appreciate your help — if you see a problem on a route into, out of, or within West Seattle, you can call or text us at 206-293-6302 (2062936302@vmobl.com) and one of us will post as soon as possible to get the word out.
ORIGINAL 10:40 AM POST: Just getting reports and pictures. Will have something up in a couple mins. 10:42 UPDATE: First photo from WSB contributing photographer Christopher Boffoli. He says California is closed here because of all the firefighting equipment. This is near California/Spokane (map).
Another view of where the street was blocked off comes in this photo from Jerry (thank you!):
10:55 UPDATE: This building is home to a salon and insurance agency among other businesses; here’s a picture from a leasing-agency site. Here’s 2 more photos from Christopher, in which you get a better look at the ground floor of the building. We’re listening to scanner communication – doesn’t sound like a huge fire, which is good news.
Christopher reports no smoke smell or visible damage. We’ll let you know if/when we find out anything else.
Avoid 35th/Thistle right now; two-car crash, police redirecting traffic. Paramedics are checking at least one person out. 9 AM: Photo added:
9:23 AM UPDATE: Tow truck just took the most badly damaged car away; police are reopening the intersection.
Big road closure there right now because of a crash. Listed on the 911 site as “automobile rescue” at Fauntleroy/38th, but two e-mails (so far; THANK YOU!) have told us the whole intersection is blocked off – we’ll be checking it out in person shortly but our posting is limited in the short run because of the tech upgrading that’s under way — breaking in just to mention this.
It’s on the 911 site as “water rescue” – huge Fire Department response to Beach Drive just south of Me-Kwa-Mooks – scanner communications indicate a report of people in the water. We’ll let you know what else we find out. UPDATE: Sounds like everything turned out OK – involved divers and they all reportedly got to shore all right. 3:50 PM ADDITION: Beach Drive Blog has a photo of some of the fire units that responded.
Just out of the WSB inbox, from LyndaB — the photo above and this info:
Yet ANOTHER car collision at 35th and Juneau. Southbound. Occurred at approximately 5:40 pm today. Both drivers appear to be ok.
Here’s a map of where it happened.
From Garrett:
Train slightly derailed, zig zag fashion, right under the intersection of 99 and spokane st viaduct. Don’t know if this will affect any West Seattle Bridge traffic!
8:45 UPDATE: John from WSB sponsor Click! Design That Fits forwarded a city traffic alert e-mail that says: “All lanes on S Spokane St are blocked by a derailed train at E Marginal Way S. Seattle Police are providing traffic control.”
From the inbox (thanks to “AA”):
Looks like either a glass truck lost its load, or someone t-boned it. There is glass ALL over the intersection and the police have a big blockade around it and a traffic arrow. The backup was almost a half-mile down Delridge when driving North to South. There is no backup driving South to North. Sylvan is blocked west of Delridge. The glass truck is parked in the Arco parking lot and there are people milling about. Worth letting people know if they can take an alternate route to the South Delridge area, it’s probably a good idea.
Can’t tell so far from the sound of the scanner transmissions HOW it ended, but the incident that closed the West Seattle Bridge ramp to NB I-5 *is* over and police and DOT crews are in the process of reopening everything.
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