SEATTLE (AP) Four firefighters were presumed dead today after they were trapped inside a blazing warehouse when the main floor collapsed into a lower level. YEARS WITH (206) 455-8341. Relatives of the firefighters [Read More], SEATTLE (AP) Had firefighters checked a burning warehouse more thoroughly, they would have known where the flames were centered before four men died, an internal report has concluded. YEARS IN BUSINESS. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. For 15 to 25 minutes, firefighters had a chance to pull Lt. Matthew Johnson from the burning Blackstock Lumber Co. warehouse last fall, but missed the opportunity. One factor that made the arsonist difficult to track was that he used a fuel of unknown origin; an accelerant that left behind no residue, called a "high temperature accelerant" or HTA. He was driving along the road of the lumberyard when he noticed a 1970s or 1980s Mercedes coming out of a parking lot at the lumberyard. When the first truck arrived, the fire appeared to be controllable. Investigators had theorized the fire was set by an arsonist who was setting fires around the country with exotic chemicals that left no trace but burned so hot they could vaporize steel. The roof had exploded while they were inside; both Matt and Bill were overcome by an intense heat. Flexibler Marmorstein verblfft Experten 6 0 obj I can reject non-essential cookies by clicking Manage Preferences. >> Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts, "just about everything we thought we knew about arson is wrong". Aliases: None Known The fire hadnt just failed to burn the shopping center to the ground in minutesit had failed to burn the center to the ground AT ALL, despite every attempt by Fowler and his team to stack the deck. I'm just disappointed in the criticism of Matt,'' he said. It is not known if the men were ever located or questioned. Handy Andy Rent-A-Tool. "Carman has shown that there is not sufficient evidence to conclude that all of the 25 fires reported to be HTA are proven, that there is the possibility of alternative methods of those being started," Dietz said. Fowler retired in 1992, just before the Unsolved Mysteries episode aired, and he passed away in 2016. The report said Johnson and Meredith separated in the smoke-filled building, contrary to both department and national safety standards. The property encompasses approximately 3 acres, and is bounded by Elliott Avenue to the east, Burlington Northern Railroad tracks to the west, and commercial/light industrial businesses to the north and south. ATF investigator Steve Carmen released a report about HTAs. BLACKSTOCK LUMBER CO INC. Reman Plant Start Date: 11:00 AM | Thursday - June 8 End Date: 11:00 AM | Thursday - June 8 Preview 11:00 AM | Thursday, June 8 Location: 1039 Elliott Ave. W., Seattle WA 98119 Closing Company After 100 Years. 10:00 Flames in Sect. Thats still hotter than a normal firebut then the Puyallup fire was set with 462 pounds of accelerant according to Carman. << /Type /Page /Parent 3 0 R /Resources 6 0 R /Contents 4 0 R /MediaBox [0 0 612 792] Website. Blackstock Lumber Co Inc is categorized under Siding Materials (SIC code 5211). n0%f|U9l 7?j`l7"tiNf]?uhgM Z4i[&LY_x endstream The Seattle Fire Department was criticized and fined by the state for how it tracked firefighters battling the Blackstock fire. The fire burned the lumber warehouse to the ground and was responsible for the death of a Seattle firefighter, 32-year-old Matt Johnson. Building Materials, View supplier info & more! Mary Pang, who with her husband, Harry, owns the business, said no employees were inside when the fire broke out. SEATTLE The Blackstock lumber yard at 1039 Elliott Ave. W. has sold for $7.5 million, according to King County records. More than 100 city firefighters fought the five-alarm blaze, which was finally declared contained at 1 a.m. today, some six hours after it was reported. Dever was released from jail and eventually sued Fowler for $1.5 million in damages (he lost the first case but appealed, I can't find the result of that appeal though). The search for Johnson didn't begin until about 11:15 p.m. By that time, said the NFPA report, flames made it impossible to enter. << /Length 5 0 R /Filter /FlateDecode >> Larry Farrar confirmed arson threats had been made to the company but did not give details, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported today. Is it protected from the elements. 10 0 obj (The van was bought in the early 1970s for use as a command vehicle equipped with radios, but it has seen little use. Curiously, one of the commonalities of the fires was that, although they burned at an extremely high temperature, no traces of accelerant were found at any of the scenes. With the help of a group of chemists, the Fowler team identified a handful of possible candidates for the mystery fuel. Wednesday, it appealed the latest citations to Labor and Industries, saying its findings were based largely on investigators' misunderstanding of firefighting policies and procedures. The lack of oxygen and intense heat left Matt unable to move. The firefighters had a half hour's supply of air when they were last seen about 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Seattle Fire Department spokeswoman Georgia Taylor said. stream 1 Mt. The 50-page report blamed Johnson's death on the department's methods of accounting for firefighters at large fires and specifically mentioned the misidentified helmet. Jim Blackstock, co-owner of the lumber company, said he was visited about three months ago by an ATF agent who indicated officials no longer believed the fire was arson. endobj RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) Martin Pang is anxious to return to Seattle to see his family and face accusations that he started the fire that killed four firefighters, his Brazilian lawyer said. In the next four years, four more suspected HTA blazes impacted Seattle, culminating with the deadly Blackstock Lumber fire in September 1989 in which a Seattle Fire Lieutenant died. Floor Materials, Search for other Lumber in Seattle on The Real Yellow Pages. Carpet & Rug Dealers, View supplier info & more! They had knocked the flames down to half their original height when the explosion came, Berkey said. Its always amazing in these situations how one investigator is able to go so far, basically unchecked. A continent-wide spree by an unidentified mastermind is just too fantastic to make a good cover up. The code does not now cover safety factors in vacant buildings. Geschftsinhaber ist Tobias Bienefeld, geler Wir sind Ihr kompetenter Baustoff-Fachhandel im Rhein-Main Gebiet. YEARS IN BUSINESS (206) 284-1313. I saw the King of Arsonists segment the other day and thought I'd write about it. the Seattle Fire Department after its first incident in January 1984. The family of Matt Johnson, the firefighter who died at Blackstock, had long contended that Fowlers claim that the fire was an arson carried out by a master criminal was a coverup designed to hide the fact that the fire department ignored safety rules at Blackstock, leading directly to Johnsons death. The investigation unit has not, however, reclassified the fire as accidental, Taylor said. However, authorities have yet to close all of the cases allegedly linked to the "King of Arsonists". 4. 9:47 Flames are 100 feet at corners of building as Johnson, Meredith radio for help. However, the fire soon spread to other parts of the lumberyard and became one of the biggest fires in recent Seattle history. Johnson said her daughter-in-law, Esther, Matthew Johnson's widow, was following the advice of her attorney and would make no comment. Spokane blows out 10th-seeded Bellevue in physical game; Gonzaga Prep falls to Olympia, Spokane Valley tax preparer has misled clients that he is an attorney, Washington Attorney General's Office says, 'I'm just trying to find a spot here': Former Gonzaga star Rui Hachimura adjusts to life as a Los Angeles Laker, Movie Review: 'Jesus Revolution' a sanitized, scattered story about religious movement. %PDF-1.3 TPP^9@+jAKPGMdA2@jdj0b =@Gg&Z2C4EuC?C}5VS-.iM)Wy&^ p)t:hm 4 0 obj Federal agents and police Capt. That does not necessarily mean the blaze was set accidentally, he added. The Blackstock Lumber Co. fire that killed firefighter Lt. Matthew Johnson and injured another in September 1989, was not arson after all, the Seattle Fire Department says. Fire Department's Safety Fines Slashed Mar 7, 1991 Dee Norton Record fines the state levied against the Seattle Fire Department for safety violations at the 1989 Blackstock Lumber Co.. To do that, Harris said, he hopes to set up a system that uses Velcro ID patches that can be taken from firefighters' gear and attached to an identification board. Meredith leaves to find help, is disoriented. Or was there a more sinister reason behind the creation of the King? A, C, D, E, F and G. Meredith staggers from building, incoherent. Lumber and flammable chemicals stored at the yard also could have increased the heat of the fire. She felt that the man's actions were suspicious. He told KING-TV he called 911. Blackstock Lumber Co Inc is located in Seattle, WA. If youve never been involved in building a new Frankfurt home or doing a house renovation, youll be amazed at the variety of Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany building supplies and manufacturers that exist today. I couldn't find one while doing research on it, but that doesn't mean one isn't out there. See how Ashby Lumber saves significant hours per week, per employee using Handle, How CESG uses Handle to protect their credit and project payments, Friedmans transformed their credit processes by eliminating heavy manual work with Handle, Mitigating Credit Risks During and After Covid-19. Johnson, who said she was only able to read a few pages of the report before breaking down in tears, said fire officials ``are making excuses for themselves. For a start, Steve Carman believes that the Carpet Exchange Warehouse fire was deliberately set and that some HTA might have been used there, possibly thermite. Please schedule an appointment to view print documents at this location. Seattle Fire Chief Claude Harris outlined four major goals for addressing the problems cited in a National Fire Protection Association report on the Blackstock Lumber Co. fire: -- Improve communications at fire scenes by creating a special communications team and placing a communications van at all major emergencies. "Our focus is with the families, helping them any way we can," she said. There's a lot of things we have to look at," the P-I reported. While the crowds were looking at the fire in progress, the man was apparently walking away from the area, paying no attention to the large fire nearby. This reminds me of Satanic Panic cases, or the Wenatchee child abuse cases. Rather, he hired or persuaded others to set the fires using his precise instructions. Replies analysing and speculating over the mystery and possible explanations are encouraged. CUTLINE: CRAIG FUJII / SEATTLE TIMES: INVESTIGATORS SEARCH THE SCENE OF THE BLACKSTOCK FIRE IN SEPTEMBER 1989. The former Blackstock Lumber Company building previously occupied the central portion of the property, with a railroad spur located along the west side of the building footprint. The arson fires have claimed the lives of at least two firefighters, Matt Johnson and Paul Heidenreich, who died in a 1982 warehouse fire. -- Improve the condition of vacant buildings. Taylor said communications were fine at Thursday night's fire. So einfach gehts nur mit Spanndo. The controls are usually listed in environmental covenants recorded with the county. << /Length 11 0 R /N 3 /Alternate /DeviceRGB /Filter /FlateDecode >> Wanted For: Arson, Murder 2. That, some firefighters said, was tantamount to the firefighters on the outside pushing the fire onto Johnson and Meredith. Taylor said communications were fine at Thursday night's fire. Although the NFPA report released yesterday touched on the use of conflicting strategies, it does not say they contributed to Johnson's death. [citation needed] We always figured it was just bums cooking hot dogs, a police source told the newspaper. No, this is just a hobby, although I used to do a lot of documentary research so I'm used to writing articles like this. Not only did Carman find that most of those fires were likely not HTA arsons at all, he revealed some things about the Puyallup test fire that Fowler and his team had kept quiet for a long time. The only fire that produced eyewitnesses was the Blackstock lumberyard fire. Some electrical power apparently remained in the building as well, which could have caused the observed pyrotechnics, the report said. Fowler first encountered the arsonist in 1984 when Seattle's Carpet Exchange Warehouse burned down in less than twenty minutes. Blackstock Lumber Co Inc is located in Seattle, WA. The fires set by this arsonist were especially dangerous because the oxygen in their water only made the fire burn faster and hotter. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. endobj So while Fowler and his team were chasing the King, there was another serial arsonist setting dozens of fires in Seattle, some of which werent even originally identified as arsons. The two firefighters also inadvertently used the wrong radio channel to call for help while lost in the vacant warehouse. 10:25 Large ball of blue flame blows out front of Section B, singeing firefighter on ladder fleeing roof. MOULDINGS Blackstock Lumber Co., Inc.1039 Elliott Avenue West Seattle, WA 98119 Phone (206) 284-1313 Fax (206) 281-0062 www.blackstocklumber.com 55 MOULDINGS NOTICE : PL PREMIUM ADHESIVE MUST BE USED ON ALL JOINTS.Flexible Moulding by Spectis HANGING DISPLAYSSpectis manufactures a flexible polyurethane for useon curved walls, etc. Die Hber Baufachmrkte in Niederelbert und Lahnstein sind Ihre Bei Raab Karcher erhalten professionelle und private Kunden Baustoffe fr jeden Baubedarf und fr jede Grenordnu Flexibler Marmorstein Tragically, Matt's body was found in the rubble the next day. I didn't find any suggestions that he might have started any of the fires--I know there was another case where the investigator was proven to be the arsonist, but it doesn't look like that happened here. Based on the new information, the fire has been downsized from HTA to a finding of undetermined, Risdon said. Thirty-two-year-old Matt Johnson and his partner Bill Meredith were two of the first fire fighters inside the building. Situated on a sharp hill, they commanded a 50 acre pasture that sloped down to a shallow stream in the farm fields. Also on hand were federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents and state Labor and Industries investigators. 9:25 Engine 20 with Lt. Matthew Johnson and Firefighter Bill Meredith arrives. 5 0 obj "The death of four firefighters is sufficient to bring out all the available resources" to determine the cause of the fire, Police Chief Norm Stamper said. He also determined that many of the fires that were believed to have been caused by HTAs were not caused by them; instead, either standard accelerants were used or the fires were accidents. The fuel, which the Seattle Fire Department has kept secret, was a mixture of several common ingredients that were readily available. Exterior search of building begins. Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below. The shopping center also was not destroyed by the fire, as Fowler had claimed. xWN@WeaY(Rk$%J}xs{{rm%5"v\{X3U$(Ypk8ASSNpoAqN He felt that this was unusual because of the time of night. Or was Fowler simply a victim of bad science and a willingness to seek links where links didnt really exist? You can contact the company by phone at (206) 284-1313. Was Dennis Fowler just one in a long line of arson investigators to make mistakes? Crews continued to douse hot spots in the gutted building, and a crane arrived about 6:30 a.m. to remove dangerous debris so investigators could enter the structure. Find lumber and building supplies near me on Houzz Before you hire a lumber or building supply company in Frankfurt, Hesse, shop through our network of over 38 local lumber and building supplies. The fire burned the lumber warehouse to the ground and was responsible for the death of a Seattle firefighter, 32-year-old Matt Johnson. Investigators also found that a 440-volt electrical line was still linked to a power panel and may have been the source of sparks. After that, the building was unapproachable. Copyright 2023, The Spokesman-Review | Community Guidelines | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy, Spokane Valley Fire roundup: Multiple engines, water tenders fight rural home blaze in Otis Orchards, Downtown Spokane stadium groundbreaking set for Tuesday , Pandemic project: Dental lab owner Robert Carnell paints pop art abstracts of celebrities , Gardening: Bird feeders safe to hang this winter after salmonella epidemic in 2020 , Pandemic projects: Retired Freeman High School teacher self-publishes Welsh mystery series , State 4A/3A boys: No. It was basically an abandoned shell of a building, he said. 11:12 Deputy Chief Richard Colombi, in staging area, told something is wrong, given Johnson's radio, says Johnson will show up. Having identified the accelerant used in the blazes, Fowler then put forward some other theories about the man he now was calling the King of Arsonists. He believed that the mastermind behind the arsons might be a structural engineer or at least someone with knowledge of building design, because he argued that the arsonist knew exactly how much fuel he needed to bring each building down without leaving any wasted accelerant behind. A recent study by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms concludes that many fires believed to have been started by high-temperature accelerants, such as rocket fuel, were not set with space-age flammables, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported Wednesday in a copyright story. Details: The Seattle Police Department is searching for the person or persons who may have set fire to the lumberyard Blackstock Lumber Company in Seattle on September 9, 1989. There may be more documents related to this site. Sounds interesting. The men were identified after tips came in regarding the sketches of possible suspects in the case. Fowler sounds like an imaginative person who dreamed up a pet theory which brought him attention and prestige.