Published April 27 2015
A three-alarm fire destroyed the AutoNation Ford dealership at 411 116th Ave. NE early Saturday morning. NORCOM received reports from Bellevue Police as well as residents in the Bravern Towers.
The investigation is currently underway as the building has now been stabilized and heavy equipment has been brought to the scene in an effort to define the source of the fire. Investigators will be on scene for a number of days working through the large piles of debris.
At approximately 2:51 a.m., units from the Bellevue Fire Department were dispatched to the car dealership with flames visible from all sides of the structure as well as through the roof. Additionally vehicles in close proximity to the building were catching fire, adding to the fire loss.
Light Force 7 and Battalion One arrived at the scene within four minutes from the time of dispatch establishing a defensive posture of operations, ensuring that this massive fire did not spread to other structures. A second and subsequent third alarm were struck in an effort to ensure enough fire department resources were available to manage the operation.
Units reported that the roof collapsed at approximately 3:25 a.m., with the large commercial natural gas meters severing minutes later. At the peak of the fire, three large overhead master streams were in full operation as well as a number of ground and engine mounted heavy streams.
The Utilities Department assisted operations with the increasing of water capacity and pressure due to the use of four separate hydrants running at full capacity to contain the fire.
Staff members from the Emergency Operations Center provided support with resources and long term incident planning and logistics.
Fire companies from Bellevue, Mercer Island, Redmond, Kirkland and Eastside Fire and Rescue assisted in suppression operations. Support units from the American Red Cross and Seattle Fire Buffs provided crew support during the long operational periods.
The management team from AutoNation has committed to providing financial support to the more than 70 employees at the dealership. Managers are on site, working to re-establish temporary operations for vehicle sales and service.
The financial impact from this fire is currently being assessed. Contractors are working around the clock to clear debris in an effort to provide an area for corporate operations to restart daily customer support.
Fortunately there have been no injuries reported from fire operations. No AutoNation employees were in the building at the time of the fire.