The Greenwood-Phinney Chamber of Commerce sent out a note to all Chamber members (PhinneyWood is a member) about last Thursday’s determination that the huge Greenwood business fire was arson. Chamber President Steve Giliberto said the community must now work even harder to stay safe, and everyone needs to look out for each other.
It is with a gravely heavy heart and a distinct sense of outrage that we have now learned that the cause of the fire that destroyed the Eleanor Roosevelt building and robbed our neighborhood of the businesses of Pho Tic Tac, Green Bean Coffeehouse, Szechuan Bistro and C.C. Teriyaki, has been determined as arson.
The Greenwood-Phinney Chamber has contacted the Seattle Police Department’s North Precinct’s community liaison and requested a detailed and clear response to the status of the current investigation into what is now being handled as a criminal matter, particularly as it relates to the rash of other fires our neighborhood business and residential district has suffered in the last several months. We will continue to press for communication between the officered leadership staff of the Seattle Police Department’s North Precinct and the community at large as to how best we can protect and defend Greenwood-Phinney against such criminal activity. Most importantly we have asked them to communicate what they as an organization plan to do to increase their efforts to prevent any further incidents occurring in the future. We will continue to update our constituency frequently.
We ask you to continue to be vigilant and call the Seattle Police Department if you see anything suspicious in the neighborhood.
Please do remember that there is now a fund set up at the JP Morgan Chase bank in Greenwood called the Greenwood Fire Relief Fund. The most significant thing people can do now is rally around the businesses that have been affected and one key way would be making a financial donation to help them all restart their businesses anew. The Greenwood JP Morgan Chase (formerly Washington Mutual) is on the corner of 85th and Greenwood. They can be reached at (206) 461-7077.
Thank You.
Your Greenwood-Phinney Chamber of Commerce.
[email protected]. 206-789-1148.
