A kitchen fire damaged four units at the Salisbury Court apartments on Thursday. The apartments were owned by the Kirkland Interfaith Transitions in Housing, a nonprofit that seeks to fulfill its mission in helping with homelessness.
No one was hurt in the fire, but one of the four tenants was left without a home. Executive director of KITH Jan Dickerman said the woman is staying with family at this time. Two tenants have found housing through other KITH housing opportunities and one was already in the process of moving to another home.
Neighbors reported the fire at about noon and the Kirkland Fire Department quickly responded.
“The fire department was there so fast,” Dickerman said in a news release. “We deeply appreciate every one of the firefighters and emergency response team members who worked so hard to put out this fire and to be sure it could not reignite.”
But before firefighters arrived it was reported that a man, thought to be a vendor nearby, saw an adjacent tree on fire. According to witnesses, he brought a garden hose to one of the Salisbury buildings and hosed the tree. Then he was gone.
Dickerman said he prevented the fire from damaging two other apartment buildings and she said she would like to thank him.
“I don’t know who he is but it was really great,” Dickerman said. “It was wonderful to see the neighbors ask how they could help.”
Many neighbors offered to help the tenants move and some even brought pastries.
The Red Cross partnered with KITH staff to help the residents and neighbors cope with the trauma of it all. Dickerman said people are struggling with the accident but she is “very grateful” no one was hurt.
The building that was damaged will likely need complete renovation. Dickerman expects it to take about a month for restoration and will cost more than $100,000.
The community can help by donating household paper products, canned food, laundry detergent and monetary donations to cover costs insurance can’t cover. None of the tenants had renter’s insurance.
Financial gifts can be mailed by check to KITH at 125 State Street South Kirkland, WA 98033 or online.
