Issuing Officer: Joe Meinecke
Incident Location: 1601 S. Union Street
Incident Type: Commercial Structure Fire
Narrative: At 6:15 a.m. Tacoma Firefighters responded to a reported commercial structure fire at Life Manor.
Crews found heavy flames and smoke showing from a dining room facility next to the independent living building on campus. Crews began an aggressive fire attack, and called a second alarm to bring in additional resources to assist with evacuating the occupants of the 7 story apartment. Heavy smoke had traveled from the building of origin through an enclosed breezeway that connected the two buildings and required the first two floors of the independent living facility to be completely evacuated. Initially, occupants on floors 3-7 sheltered in place, and now that the smoke has been removed, all 144 occupants are being helped from the building. Evacuated residents have currently been moved to one of the facilities gymnasiums where they are being reunited with family members or awaiting relocation to other area facilities.
Update: Preliminary findings indicate that the fire appears to have been caused by an electrical malfunction in a room adjacent to the dining room.
