Bellevue, Wash. – A three alarm fire destroyed a significant portion of a commercial building at the Columbia Business Park Tuesday evening. Located at 13427 NE 20th Street in North Bellevue, a total of nine occupancies were affected with several suffering major damage by fire and smoke. Several calls were made by area businesses reporting fire coming from the building’s windows.
At approximately 9:22 pm Bellevue Fire units were dispatched with Engine Co. 6 arriving within 3 minutes from time of dispatch. Engine Co. 6 began a fire attack from the exterior of the building declaring a defensive stand. The fire was upgraded twice resulting ultimately in a three alarm fire response. A total of twenty-one units from Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, and Mercer Island responded to the fire.
During the defensive stand, Bellevue’s truck companies, Lighforce 3 and 7, were able to cut several strategic holes in the structure’s roof to stop the spread of fire to the rest of the building. Working cooperatively with hose streams from the engine companies below they were able to limit fire spread to approximately one-half of the building.
Preliminary damage estimates are around one million dollars. The building was not equipped with fire protection systems. The fire cause is currently under investigation.