The Kirkland Fire Department responded to a two-alarm fire in a five-unit commercial complex in the Totem Lake neighborhood on Tuesday afternoon.
An employee in a nearby business alerted Kirkland Fire and reported smoke at approximately 1:46 p.m. Tuesday, said Mike Dettmer, incident commander of Kirkland Fire.
Sixty firefighters and 21 units from the Kirkland, Redmond, Bothell, Northshore and Woodinville fire departments responded to heavy smoke and flames at the Parmac Business Park located at 11100 117th Place.
Postal Express employees Isreal Paredes and Quy Tang sat just blocks from their work waiting to get past the line of fire trucks and ambulances to start their work day.
“I have been here since 2 p.m.,” said Paredes. “And we can’t up the hill.”
“I heard they were putting out the last of it, but there is debris everywhere,” said Quy. “I think half the warehouse is burned.”
Charred pieces of what looked to be paper could be found blocks from the Parmac Business Park.
Dettmer said firefighters were able to control the fire after 45 minutes.
The fire started in an industrial bay with heavy storage, he said, noting the cause is still under investigation.
He said there were no injuries.
The extent of damages to the business park is currently unknown, however, Dettmer said there’s “significant structural damage.”