Update | Kent commercial fire injures man and woman | Kent Regional Fire Authority
Published 6:44 pm Friday, December 30, 2011
A fire in a commercial building is currently under investigation this evening after it broke out in the 6800 block of S. 228 Street in the Kent valley at 5:15 p.m. according to Capt. Kyle Ohashi spokesman for the Kent Fire Department.
Two people inside of the business at the time of the fire were injured. One, an adult male, was transported to a local hospital with burns to several parts of his body by King County paramedics. The second, an adult female was examined by paramedics but she declined any assistance. No one else was in the affected occupancy, which manufactures tarps.
Several other businesses in the large concrete tilt-up structure were unoccupied, though at least one suffered minor smoke damage.
Because of the danger of the fire spreading to other businesses, a second alarm was requested by the incident commander. This added several additional fire apparatus to the call. Fortunately, Kent firefighters were able to contain the fire and limit it to the business where it started. Those later arriving units were then returned to their respective stations.
S. 228 Street east of Central Ave. N. was closed by Kent Police for two hours while fire crews worked to extinguish the flames. That street is now open to all traffic.
According to the Kent Fire Investigator, the cause of the fire was a spark that ignited gasoline fumes while a vehicle’s fuel tank was being pumped out inside of the business.
