Seattle Fire spent the second morning in a row battling a stubborn fire in a reported abandoned building slated for demolition on Capitol Hill.

Tuesday morning, smoke was reported coming from a three-story “derelict” house along the Melrose connector trail near Bellevue Pl E around 7:15 AM. Arriving crews found a fire in the void space between the second and third floors. SFD reported the fire nearly under control after around 20 minutes at the scene but crews continued to work through the morning to fully extinguish the fire in the old house’s walls.

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The 1904-built apartment house is slated to be demolished to make way for a five-story, 58-unit apartment building from Walls Property Group, the developer that purchased the property in 2014.

Tuesday, firefighters reported that there were signs that people had been inside the “derelict” house and that electrical boxes had been ripped open.

Monday morning, SFD battled a smoky fire on E Mercer that burned a garage on a property utilized by squatters. Overnight temperatures this week have dipped into the low 50s after a warmer end of summer.

There were no injuries reported in either fire. Seattle Fire has not yet announced what caused Tuesday’s incident. Monday’s fire cause could not be determined.



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