Hi, I’m Krizten Breidenich a neighbor who lives a couple blocks away from this awful fire. On Sunday, January 11th, around 12 noon, residents at the 17-unit Olympic View Manor apartment building on North Beacon Hill smelled smoke coming from one of the units and called 911. Unfortunately, the responding fire truck was mistakenly sent to 13th Ave on Capitol Hill instead of 13th Ave S on Beacon Hill.

By the time the fire truck arrived roughly 10 minutes later, a unit was actively burning. The building’s fire alarm system did not sound until after the fire department arrived. During those critical minutes, the building’s longtime “acting” manager (a resident) had to go door-to-door knocking and evacuating neighbors herself. An 87-year-old tenant had to be carried out on a stretcher and is said to be stable and recovering.

According to Seattle Fire Department investigators, the likely cause of the fire was unattended candles placed next to combustible materials. The flames quickly engulfed a middle-floor unit and spread upward. Tragically, the tenant in the unit above was unable to rescue her beloved cats before smoke overtook the apartment. Her unit is completely destroyed, as is the unit where the fire started and the unit below it.

The family in the lower unit — two adults and three children — did not have renter’s insurance. Their losses are due to heavy smoke and water damage, and we are currently working to secure emergency temporary housing for them.

It is believed there are 38 tenants in the 17-unit complex. Nearby neighbors, parents at Beacon Hill Elementary, and the Beacon Hill community have already begun stepping in to help these residents get the support they need.

Three units appear to be total losses, and many others have substantial smoke and water damage. In reality, every unit has been affected in some way. It is unclear if all residents will be able to return, and at this time everyone has been evacuated.

Roughly 40% of residents are thought to have renter’s insurance. One tenant was told his insurance company would not assist until he paid a $500 deductible out of pocket.

Restoration companies are already circling and attempting to secure contracts, but their optimistic estimates of a “couple days” until tenants can return seem unrealistic given the extent of the damage and current displacement.

We created this GoFundMe in hopes of easing the burden on these residents. It is too cold to be without warm clothing, shelter, and food. It is our hope that donations will be enough to help everyone affected secure temporary housing, replace essentials, and cover urgent needs as they navigate insurance (or no insurance) and recovery.

In full transparency, I have lived on North Beacon Hill for over 30 years and am a neighbor two blocks from the complex. I, Krizten will be responsible for managing the withdrawal of the funds, which will be deposited into my personal bank account. Myself and Jennifer (who is also listed on this campaign and one of the tenants experiencing total loss) will be allocating funds to the tenants via Zelle and Venmo. Everything will be documented, and all tenants will be able to see exactly how funds are distributed.

The needs we’ve seen in the past 24 hrs has been for emergency housing, basic necessities for young families (food, diapers, formula), financial help with relocating, financial help with insurance deductibles, etc. We’ve been blessed with an amazing community that has been dropping clothing/formula donations nonstop! As soon as we start allocating some funds to tenants, we will post updates with where your generous donations are going.

Thank you!

Krizten Breidenich