Four businesses in the Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle are recovering from damage caused by fire and smoke on the 23rd of the month. These businesses include Green Bean Coffee House, Szechuan Bistro, C.C. Teriyaki and Pho Tic Tac. Nearby businesses suffered extensive damage from the nearby smoke and water from the rescue effort. Firefighters also took extra precautions and evacuated a nearby apartment complex.
The Green Bean Coffee House is a business that many are mourning. It is a nonprofit business owned by the Sanctuary Church, which holds services in the nearby Taproot Theater. The Green Bean was described to be inviting, comfortable and welcoming-so comfy that customers would often fall asleep in one of the big easy chairs provided. The church had to relocate its Sunday service due to the extensive water damage it suffered and damages intentionally caused to the building to keep the fire from spreading. However, fire crews tried to protect as much as they could in the offices of the Taproot by placing tarps over desks and electronic equipment. The Taproot, which also services as a community theater house, will hold some if its future performances at the Seattle Children’s Theater.
A home in a Sacramento suburb exploded on Christmas Eve. Officials believe the explosion, which killed a man and injured five other people, was caused by a natural gas leak. It is not yet clear what ignited the gas. The home in which the explosion occurred was completely destroyed as the surrounding houses have been severely damaged.
The Associated Press reports 40 of the surrounding homes in the neighborhood were voluntarily evacuated as a safety precaution. Pacific Gas & Electric crews had been called into the neighborhood a day prior to the incident after residents reported smelling gas. The UPI NewsTrack states: “A PG&E spokesman said the crews could not shut off gas in an isolated area until they determined the exact location of the leak.”
Officials later returned to the neighborhood on Christmas day after residents reported smelling a gas leak. It was determined the second gas leak was caused by a propane tank, which was then sealed.
The National Transportation Safety Board, rather than PG&E, is investigating the cause of the initial, devastating gas leak as the gas pipelines run beneath the streets.
An apartment fire at the Silver Spring Apartments in Columbus, Ohio this weekend took the lives of five people: a mother and her children.
When firefighters arrived on the scene of the disaster and entered the building in an attempt to rescue the victims, they had to turn back because of the amount of smoke and the instability of the structure. Twenty-one fire trucks were on scene to assist with the rescue efforts. However, when the firefighters attempted to put out the blazes with water, the water ended up freezing, thus hindering their efforts.
Experts believe the Christmas tree in the living room of the home was the cause of the fire, which took 90 minutes to extinguish.
Please take every precaution this holiday season with all of your fabulous décor to make sure your home is safe. Five minutes of taking care in favor of safety can prevent much unneeded heartache we all hear about too often.
