One-hundred Seattle firefighters battled a massive 3-alarm blaze in downtown Greenwood early this morning. The fire began at 208 N. 85 St., at either Pho Tic Tac or the Green Bean Coffeehouse. Both businesses, along with Szechuan Bistro and C.C. Teriyaki, were destroyed. Click here for video.
This is the front of Pho Tic Tac and the Green Bean Coffeehouse next door, both engulfed in flames at 5:30 a.m. We arrived on the scene at 4:30 a.m. and watched as the fire intensified, flames shooting out the windows and high into the air. By 6 a.m., only smoke was coming from the businesses.
Only the brick frame of the Eleanor Roosevelt Building remains. The Taproot Theatre, immediately to the west, has escaped the flames but has suffered smoke and water damage, according to Scott Nolte, the theater’s producting artistic director. We watched as firefighters went in and out of the Taproot in thick smoke to try to prevent the flames from spreading. The Greenwood Academy of Hair also escaped fire damage, according to the owner.
About a dozen apartments in the same building were evacuated, and firefighters broke into the PAWS Cat City Adoption Center and safely evacuated the cats inside. Heavy smoke blew north of the fire, which has undoubtedly filled many homes and apartments nearby.
Firefighters attacked this fire on all sides, with three ladders in the air. Central Greenwood is shut down to traffic in all directions, radiating out about three blocks from 85th and Greenwood. Buses were being rerouted to 3rd Avenue from about 80th to 90th Street. Hoses are stretched as far as three blocks.
Soon after fire crews arrived, firefighters had to retreat out of the business and fight the flames from the outside. The roof ultimately collapsed. “It’s uncommon with the fire to be this far along before we get a call,” fire spokeswoman Dana Vander Houwen told us on the scene, stopping short of calling the fire suspicious. She said it would take several hours before investigators would be able to gain access to the burned out building. Remember that fire investigators have yet to catch an arsonist responsible for several Greenwood fires earlier this year.
“I hate to see our neighborhood take a step back,” said Greg, a neighborhood resident, staring at the burned out building.
Standing across the street, staring with a stunned expression into the burned out building, Green Bean manager Summer Mohrlang said many would be devastated by the loss of the popular coffee shop. “I’m hoping it’s not arson. I hope it’s an accident,” she said. “I’m really sad for the businesses on either side. This is all they had.”
Water rained down inside Taproot’s lobby and insulation cascaded down the stairs leading to the upper lobby, where firefighters were cutting holes in the ceilings and walls to make sure the fire hadn’t spread to the theater. “We may not be on fire, but the effort to be extra, extra careful is really going to set us behind,” Scott Nolte said.
“That’s dreams going up in flames,” said Pam Nolte, Taproot’s co-founder.
Taproot bought the Eleanor Roosevelt building in 2000, with an eye toward eventually expanding into that space. There were no near-term plans to do so.
“We need to get the theater back open. When we have shows, there’s a lot of surrounding businesses that thrive,” as people come to Greenwood to eat dinner or have dessert after a show, Scott Nolte said.
Taproot has three more performances of “Enchanted April” scheduled for today and Saturday. They’ll try to find another space and they encourage people to check their website for updates.
Their next play, “Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol,” opens the day after Thanksgiving.
We just got a note from PAWS’ Executive Director Annette Laico, who says all 11 of the cats from PAWS Cat City are safe and now at the PAWS shelter in Lynnwood. “We are very appreciate of the firefighters’ concern for the welfare of the animals at Cat City,” Laico said, “and grateful for their quick response.”
Stay tuned for more updates, and follow us on Twitter, too.
And thanks to everyone who emailed tips or commented on the story – especially Silver! - adding their own perspectives from nearby homes and businesses. Community collaboration is what this is all about! If you live or work near the scene, please email us or put a note in comments when the roads at the scene are cleared for traffic.
New: Taproot escapes fire, but suffers extensive smoke and water damage
New: Green Bean founders say community is lifting them up
I can see the light from the flames by looking down the street, we are on 85 th and 6th. Is it a house? Or greenwood market? The sirens have been blaring for the last 30 minutes!! So much for sleep at this point.
That’s the address of Pho Tic Tac, but I can’t tell from the picture where the fire is
Maybe we should just walk down to see what the deal is, it’s only a few blocks from us, and I doubt they would let us too close anyway. Although the bed is very comfy….
oops, pho tic tac is 208 N 85th, not NW85th. Is it that old all-ages place at 3rd? I’m starting to think the address might be approximate
Good morning, Phinneywood neighbors!
I’ve been listening to this fire on my scanner, and posting updates since just after it started. You can see the earliest updates here, and more recent updates here.
KIRO is reporting that it the businsesses on N85th just west of Greenwood: the Green Bean Coffeehouse, Pho’ Tic Tac, and the Szechuan Bistro.
They are also reporting that it has gone to 3 alarms.
My comments are “awaiting moderation” on Phinneywood, so I’m going to continue posting updates to the comments section of this story on MyBallard instead.
Please, save the cats in the shelter 1st and then Romios!
Silver – I approved your initial comment. It needed moderation because you had more than one link in it. You can go ahead and keep posting to PhinneyWood now. And thanks for doing that!
Okay Doree. Thanks!
The Fire Department is requesting one metro bus for their rehab area, presumably for firefighters to rest in.
Ok, we trudged out in the rain. It is totally the pho tic tac, but it looks like the taproot was hit too!!
There has apparently been some flooding as a result of the rain and water from the hoses, so the Public Utilities folks have been called to do something with the storm drains.
Mitch – in case you didn’t see my post over on MyBallard, an engine company was put in charge of evacuating the kitties from PAWS. They should be fine.
There are tons of firefighters!! We are standing at the parking for sonny newmans across the street, they are pouring water into the building, inside taproot too.
We can see the flames in the green bean and the biz next to it’
I just heard one of the division commanders repeat that the exposed buildings are still intact.
Command just said that the Water Department has boosted the supply to the area. Pumping divisions have been advised to check their hose pressure and adjust it accordingly.
Some of the hose streams are arcing over the building and hitting firefighters on the other side.
Thanks for the updates, Weenie d! There’s nothing like being there!
Phinneywood ROCKS!!! What tremendous news coverage! It is just amazing to have such immediate and accurate coverage right as the event is happening, even at this time of the morning. Thanks everyone!!! (PS: Is it any wonder that the old paper newspapers are going away?)
Operations just said that they have done an aerial survey of the fire and that there is still a small amount of fire in the collapsed area of the building, but that it’s pretty much gone in other areas.
Weenie D – what are they doing to Taproot? Does it look like it’s okay to you?
Neighbor – yup. The nature of news coverage is changing, isn’t it?
k – from the sound of it, Taproot is going to have serious water damage at least. Sorry!
You guys are doing the best coverage in town, and you don’t even have newscopters
. Be proud. I was just down there and yeah, it’s clear that the pho place, the Chinese place and Green Bean are no longer with us, though firefighters seem to have the buildings on either side well in hand. Hope that continues to be the case.
A shame about all these businesses, but Green Bean’s a horrible loss; they were a force for good in the community and did some great work on behalf of the homeless. They’ll be missed.
water is better than fire. Thank you – I work there.
Green Bean can rise from the ashes!
Okay, gang, I’ve been on this since 4:30am or something. I just heard the dispatcher say that the “on-scene time is 1 hour and 45 minutes.”
I’m “burning out” (ha ha. Hey, it’s late.
I’ll post another update if it seems important, but I’m headed back to bed!
Take care, neighbors!
Thanks Silver and good night. Good work.
You rock Silver! Thanks..
Woke up to hovering helicopters, first thing I did was check this blog and Twitter. Thanks for the updates, guys!
One more update (for k
) -
A crew is being dispatched to the basement of the theater for water removal.
Silver – We couldn’t cover breaking news like this without you! Thank you so much for everything you do for PhinneyWood and MyBallard. We owe you!
Gosh, I used to live in the apartments over Romios, were the apartments damaged too or just evacuated as a precaution?
CKwebgrrl, no fire up that way; if there would be any damage there it was be random water. Doubt it.
k, I’m going to just sit here and hope for the best for the theater. Please keep us posted in the days to come re what we can do to be helpful?
PhoTicTac-GreenBean-SzechuanBistro-CCTeriyaki RIP. Taproot expansion plans TBD. More business for nearby new pho place TBD. Arson TBD.
Thanks – I will keep everyone posted on Taproot & the ERB (Eleanor Roosevelt Building = the 4 restaurants east of Taproot on fire)
This is really sad news! I swear that I heard the ‘low-flying’ plane (referenced in a different post) this morning at about 3:45ish, but apparently a building was going up in flames.
Much love to our small business owners…
K- the firefighters were inside the taproot, the lights were on, but it didn’t look like there was fire in it, just water damage!
We wandered over to Neptune but they wernt open, I wanted to ferry coffee to the firefighters. I have never seen anything like it! They were working really hard! I feel sorry for all the owners of those businesses. I have a feeling the building will be coming down, it looked like the roof collapsed too. Well, I think I am ready to go back to bed, been up since it started!
Great job phinneywood! Now shall we get some sort of relief fund of money, materials etc. together to help our local friends in their time of need?
Wish someone would let those choppers know that you have it covered so we all could get a little bit of sleep. Thanks PhinneyWood blog!
I know its probably too early to know but has anyone heard what they think might of caused it?
It’s all so sad. my heart goes out the owners.. especially the GreenBean. That place means so much to me… home to our film festival, played music there every month, had a sense of community for the first time in a long while… it’s devastating.
thanks for all the up-to-date news.. this blog was better than the television … only wish it had a better outcome.
thanks.
I just realized Romios moved up the street… when did that happen? I really miss Greenwood and sorry to hear of this event.
Is anyone starting a fund for Green Bean or Pho? I want to donate. The Green Bean has been very good to me.
There sure has been a lot of fires in that area.
I don’t even have a job right now but I would go give some plasma so I could donate too! I can’t imagine waking up this morning hearing my whole business was gone! my heart goes out to all the owners and employees
The biggest thanks need to go to the brave men and women of the Seattle Fire Department.
When you get home, check your SMOKE ALARMS and replace batteries!
WOW – we were just at the Green Bean yesterday. What an incredible loss. This is beyond sad.
(Great reporting Phinneywood, BTW)
Oh man, this sucks, I love the GreenBean! I hope they had insurance and are able to rebuild soon. It was an awesome coffee shop with the non-profit & fair trade angles as a bonus.
I just called PAWS and all the voice mail boxes are full but I sent an email offering to help with the displaced cats etc.
Seems odd that there have been so many fires in that neighborhood.
Such sad news, a real loss for the Greenwood community. Please let us know when there is a mechanism in place to donate to these businesses. Thanks for the great reporting.
@20 Excellent reporting by TGS — but why you use this extremely unfortunate occurrence to slander workingpeople at local newspapers is beyond me. Guess what, they covered this, too — along with the whole city. **Please stop using my name, too!!!***
I agree! Newspapers are important not everyone has the luxury of at home internet access….also I jus wanted to send out a big THANK YOU to all the 100 or so firefighters that risked their lives to protect and my prayers are with the one who was injured! Much love
Wow. This is mindboggling. DH and I spent many a dinner (and lunch. and mid-afternoon snack) hour at the Bistro and the Green Bean.
Tritto to PP’s request for letting us know if there’s a fund for any of these businesses.
We LOVED Pho Tic Tac, Szechuan Bistro, and C.C. Teriyaki. The food was great, and the people running those restaurants were incredibly nice. I wonder if there’s anythng we can do for them. This is devastating.
We live in Greenwood Towers and were woken up around 4:30 this morning.
The size and scope of the involvement and flames were unbelievable. I emailed Phinneywood but within minutes there was already a photo on the site and preliminary information.
This place is wonderful for letting us know what is happening in our neighborhood.
We are so sorry for the businesses that are lost and for all the people affected.
We are very grateful for the firefighters who put their lives on the line to fight this. God bless them all.
From our apartment we now see a huge black still smoking area.
What a tragedy.
Just tried Szechuan Bistro for the first time last week – first Chinese food in the city I’ve liked! Sad loss, hope all of the businesses can rebuild. And if this was due to the Greenwood Arsonist, they string him up by his thumbs.
I woke up to the sound of a helicopter overhead, smelled the smoke, and found your reporting via Twitter. Thanks so much for being out there with great reporting. I feel awful for those businesses, am grateful for the fire fighters, the rescue of the PAWS cats, and will especially miss Szechuan Bistro.
How incredibly unfortunate! We had just gone to Szechuan Bistro for the first time a week ago, and they were the nicest people. I would definitely donate to any fund set up to help these businesses recover.
Reached out to the Greenwood/Phinney Chamber this am. Look for an account to be set up at the Chase branch at 85th and Greenwood sometime today.
Wow – what a loss. Will be very interested, as I hope most neighbors will be, to learn where these proprietors set up shop, so we can continue supporting them, especially at this difficult time.
We will do whatever it takes to make sure there is a space for the Green Bean to continue its work for this community. We are not the same without it…which brought most of us together the past 5 years.
We go to Szechuan Bistro all the time and the Pho ash the bean on occasion. We truly will want to help them out in some way….! I can’t believe I slept through it!
Sad to see Greenwood lose some of its great local businesses, and have a burnt out hole in the main part of town. Hopefully these shops are able to find some of the empty spaces in the neighborhood and remain in business.
BTW – the reporting on this site was better than both the Times and the PI. Thanks for keeping tabs on the neighborhood.
Here’s a view from above of the buildings before the fire.
My wife and daughter and I are really sad, and our hearts and empathy go out to the family’s who own and run Szechuan Bistro and Pho Tic Tac. They have been so nice to my family and I since we purchased our home here in Greenwood, and we have been frequent – loyal customer’s (happily so…they serve fantastic food and are warm and welcoming.) Will there be any kind of neighborhood – small business support for them and the other establishments that have incurred loss due to this fire? It is so very sad for these family’s indeed. Mine and my family’s condolences go out to them.
It’s 10:20 and from our apartment we can still see flames at the top of the standing wall.
Oh Green Bean, I am so sorry. I loved your coffee and your commitment to social justice. My heart goes out to all of the businesses in our community. (I live in Chicago now, but we were and will be Greenwood residents again.)
The Seattle P.I. linked to Phinneywood’s coverage of this story. Here’s a link to the (small) P.I. story.
It was shocking to wake up to this news this morning. Thanks to Phinneywood for having this great place to get information and share ideas on how we can help. I hope the businesses had insurance, the building was owned by Taproot Theatre. My husband and I were just at the play last night. I love our little theatre district in the heart of Greenwood. Hope it can be rebuilt into something even better than before. BTW Tic Tac Pho has another restaurant up on Aurora and 145th, so you can support them by going there in the meantime.
They have some of the best pho in town.
Silver – the birds eye view you posted shows Goldmyer Hot Springs as a business right here at Greenwood/85th!
Thanks for the visual of the businesses there, helpful to see what other businesses might be impacted.
Thoughts are going out to GB, SB, and PTT. I hope the damage to other businesses is reversible. I’ll eat Wednesday’s leftover Szechuan Bistro for lunch today and hope I’ll be dining there again soon!
Thanks catherine for the info bout donating at chase on 85th n greenwood! Reading all these messages makes me proud to live in such a caring neighborhood. Ballard/Greenwood rocks!
I’ve lived in Greenwood for 3 months and can now see 3 likely arson’s from my back door, not including whatever caused that fire above Gary’s Games. I’d love to see some reporting on the resources the city is putting into investigating these fires. I know we have some police in this city because I see one every 4 weeks or so.
This is a horrible, depressing tragedy for these businesses. These great restaurants are part of the reason we moved to this area.
If anyone finds out where we can donate to these businesses, please let us know here. I called the Chamber, but their hours are T and Th 9:30-2:30. If anyone knows the owners, please tell them to come here and post if they need help. I would be happy to volunteer for whatever cleanup they need.
Here’s a link to the Seattle Times story.
Here’s the KOMO story.
And here’s KING’s story.
What is King County Animal Control’s response time? When they are called in the early morning to deal with rescuing cats from a nearby building, should they hop to it or should they rub their sleepy eyes, make some coffee, turn on the news, take a shower, and hope someone else does it?
greenwood-fan, Goldmyer hotsprings had an office right there. Its not the actual springs (of course) , but an administrative office
For those taking the 48, Know that the Eastbound one is still stopping at 85th and Greenwood in front of Slum City/ Sweet on You. Westbound its turning North I’m assuming stopping in front of Sweet on you then cutting back over to 85th. (from 92nd)
We just moved into this neighborhood and fell in love with the Green Bean, the owners are great advocates for social justice and make a mean latte. The Szechuan joint was the real thing and we were looking forward to many more meals there. I’m so sorry for their loss, and for Pho Tic Tac and Taproot. Looks like a fundraiser is in order!
As Lauram said, if there are volunteer efforts to help clean up or rebuild, please keep us appraised.
Hooray for Phinneywood and the caring community I love so much.
Thanks to all those providing quick details as they develop. As a former Taproot company member who also worked closely with the owners of those restaurants, I’m just devastated by this news. Taproot is a non-profit on a very tight budget, especially given the bad economy. And all of those restaurants were run on a shoestring as well. To those who can help with time or money, please be generous!
This delayed my 48 bus a bit this morning — but I managed to get my transfers at Montlake and downtown Redmond to get to work on time!
So sorry about this — some nice neighborhood businesses affected, nice folks.
Thanks Deb for the info on Goldmyer – I never knew that!
Thank you so much for the excellent coverage of the story….Please let us know how we can help the businesses that lost their space and if the residents of the building need anything!
I volunteer for Cat City and the cats are just fine. They have been moved up to the main facility in Lynnwood. Cat City is closed today but may be open for business as early as tomorrow.
I’m DEVASTATED by the loss of the Green Bean and also wonder if there is a fund to donate to. They are a non-profit coffee shop that demonstrates such great support for the community. I’m deeply concerned about the other businesses affected. If ANYONE hears word about a fund please post the info here, spread the word on Facebook, Twitter, email news media, etc. Thanks!
All the support and offers for help are awesome. Great to know the community of my choice is exactly that.
The Greenwood-Phinney Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors is meeting shortly and will work on plans to offer resources and generally help as much as we can.
In the mean time all the PAWS kitties are in the Lynnwood Shelter in cramped quarters. They are all looking for great homes. This is a fairly easy way to help and get personally rewarded in the long term.
Greenwood Hair Academy is thinking they may be re-opened early next week. While no major damage, smoke and water can certainly make it hard to work.
The electricity is off to these businesses currently so phones may or may not be working.
Taproot is looking for a temporary home for their current show, “Enchanted April”. I hope that they are receiving a great number of offers, equal to their great value to our community. The Show Must Go On.
Hopefully we will be able to keep these great businesses in our neighborhood. Let’s continue to support them in thoughts and actions. When they reopen (hopefully soon) let’s show them all the more support, stay local.
I’m so sorry to hear this news. Good Luck Phinneywood! Recover quickly
Idaho loves you.
I lay awake listening to the firetrucks lining up along Greenwood and the helicopter buzzing around the area, and began thinking “what if the fire spreads to the hair academy? What if it encouters all of those chemicals and aerosol cans and fake hair? Things could get so much worse.”
I am so sad about this, Pho Tic tac was my daughter’s favorite spot in Greenwood, and one of her friends had her musical debut in Green Bean. Pho Tic Tac recently opened a new place up on 145th and 3rd. Perhaps we can send cards and drop by for dinner to show support.
Seems like Arson (Fire chief saying they have never seen a building that fully ingulfed before they were called) To me that reads- The building went up really fast.
Sanctuary Church has established a Greenwood Fire Relief fund at the Chase Bank on 85th and Greenwood to provide aid to all the businesses that were damaged and destroyed by this morning’s fire. Any and all assistance is appreciated.
Thanks.
Come on Franklin, why do you have to bash King County Animal Control? Greenwood is in the City of Seattle jurisdiction. KCAC doesn’t even serve this area. And who says Seattle Animal Control wasn’t there?
Thanks for the info regarding the Greenwood Fire Relief fund, Mark. That’s great and shows a sense of community for Greenwood. I showed up for work this morning to such chaos and saddened to see the places I frequent gone. The folks who called in the fire were busy working in our store which wasn’t far from where all this was happening. Knowing that our community can come together to show support is why I love Greenwood. BTW – Pho Tic Tac does another restaurant off 145th. While it may be a drive for many, its a good way to show another way of support by continuing to frequent their other location.
So sorry for the losses of personal and business property. And hats off to the dedicated firefighters (especially the commander who correctly “read the fire” and pulled the firefighters out before the roof collapsed. I also wanted to give thanks for the wonderful Greenwood community and the ‘virtual’ community of Phinneywood readers and commentators. The level of compassion and civility here is great to see. Comments on online news stories are often a bit of a trainwreck. They’re so often nasty/mean and yet hard to look away from. But not so with Phinneywood comments! Any mean-spirited comment are rare and not tolerated by other posters. I love it when civility and politeness win out!!! Keep it up Greenwood!
Thank you for the good reporting, keeping us posted, and MOST OF ALL, having the class and empathy to make sure that we animal lovers knew that the animals were evacuated safely.
While we’re all sorry to hear about popular small business setbacks, property and business losses can be rebuilt. Loss of innocent lives (animals and people) cannot. “The news” rarely reports compassionately about the animal quotient, and when they do it’s sensationalist and usually heartbreaking. Honestly, my family really needed a story about compassion, smart cooperative work, and heart warming news right now. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
this is heartbreaking news! may God have mercy on all involved.
Is there a link to information about the Greenwood Fire Relief Fund mentioned in Mark’s comment (#93)?
It’d be good to have a place to send people to in order to better spread the word. A link to information online would be ideal; barring that, second best would be a phone number.
Thanks, and I join everyone in the sadness at the loss and damage of these businesses and organizations.
O! The link I wanted was already here.
http://www.phinneywood.com/2009/10/23/relief-fund-set-up-for-destroyed-businesses/
OMG!! I couldn’t believe it when i heard the news!! I am glad that no one was seriously injured, but i am so sorry for all the community that these local businesses supported. I hope that a fund can be established so that we can enjoy them again. I especially miss the great people @ Szechuan Bistro…they have great service and i have always enjoyed dining there. My heart goes out to them and their families…
Many thanks to the fine Defenders of Greenwood for their hours of hard work putting out the fire and for rescuing all the kitties at PAWS. We are lucky to have such dedicated guardians of our community.
I think a benefit featuring local musicians would be a great way to raise some money for the devastated businesses. Even if they all had good insurance, they face many weeks of lost income.
I know a blues band and some other musicians who might be willing to play. Does anybody know of a good site in Greenwood for a benefit?
Thanks for all the support – after a 15 hour day I am home from Taproot’s admin offices.
Every patron has been notified about our performances of Enchanted April changing locations for tomorrow. Thanks to Seattle Children’s Theatre. Tickets available for purchase at the door ($20) for an amazing show that will surely breath the spirit of love back into those of us who need it after today. Visit http://www.taproottheatre.org if you need more info.
The damage to the theatre is significant, and the building next door, which Taproot owns, is destroyed. Our heart continues to be with our tenants who have lost everything.
I heard about this news here first. Right afterward my 4 yr old daughter and I took a walk to see the wreckage, mid-afternoon. It made quite an impression on her. She knows “the place with the croissants” (Green Bean) is gone, having seen it pretty much gutted out and still smoldering. Here’s the photo she drew of us surveying the damage:
http://coiledtospring.blogspot.com/2009/10/fire-in-greenwood-today.html
Does anyone know if there are plans for donation takers during the trick-or-treat? It sure seems like people coming to the neighborhood for fun would be more than happy to drop some change into a bucket or boot, and every little bit helps….
Szechuan B was great, this is a real tragedy.
It looks like some of Phinneywood’s photos have been used (with credit given) on Fire Line, the Seattle Fire Department’s blog, in their Greenwood Fire coverage.
check out this thread from the Seattle Times article about the Nov 8th fires:
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/reader_feedback/public/display.php?thread=200791&offset=20#post_924822
I never did see what “criticalthinker206″ wrote but 2 of his posts were sufficiently nasty to get removed and make people wonder what his personal beef was with Greenwood… it struck me then and it really strikes me now, after I read about serial arsonist profiles… do investigators check this stuff?