Lake City Fire Ruins Businesses -- Local Mainstay Of Shops, Eateries Turns To Ashes

It was easy for Lake City residents to take the five small businesses clustered in a one-story building on Lake City Way Northeast for granted.

For decades, husbands had bought flowers for their wives at the Lake City Florist. For years, locals had stopped by to enjoy the live music, pool tables and beer at Jack and Jill's Tavern.

Even the newer shops - a European bakery, a Thai restaurant and a retro-vintage clothing store - in the 12500 block of Lake City Way Northeast were beginning to feel like mainstays.

"This area doesn't change that much. Things stay the same, ya know?" said Doug Munson, who has lived in the Lake City area for 38 years.

But a three-alarm fire yesterday devastated the five shops, leaving owners and patrons wondering what to do now that a vital chunk of their neighborhood is gone.

Fire officials were to begin investigating the cause of the blaze this morning. The fire, which was reported about noon, took the work of 19 firetrucks and almost 60 firefighters to control. Smoke could be seen from as far away as Kirkland.

Yesterday's high temperatures added to the difficulty in controlling the fire. Firefighters had to be rotated every 15 minutes to avoid heat exhaustion, said Sheila Strehle, public-information officer for the Seattle Fire Department.

"It was certainly a very challenging fire. It's really fortunate that no one was injured," Strehle said.

Authorities think the fire started in the attic above Jack and Jill's Tavern. Because the businesses have common attic space, it spread quickly through the building. Damage was estimated at more than $1 million, Strehle said.

Lake City Florist co-owner Mary Sierchio said she and her sister moved from New Jersey in September to take over the 46-year-old flower shop. The previous owners had passed on a customer list with more than 1,500 names, she said.

"When I got down here, I realized we wouldn't have much of a business left. There's no way to reconstruct it. All our customer lists are on fire," Sierchio said.

Niran Yodthong, the 17-year-old manager of the Sea-Thai Kitchen, watched the fire with tears in his eyes. Yodthong said he loved his job at the Thai restaurant, and it allowed him to work with his mother. He was chopping vegetables for yesterday's menu when the fire broke out, he said.

And Niz Mavar, owner of the Atomic Rag-O-Rama, said that even fire insurance - which most of the business owners said they had - won't make up for what was lost in the flames.

"It doesn't pay for all the work you put into it. We made (this store) from nothing," Mavar said.

A crane was brought to the scene of the fire late yesterday to lift sections of the building and uncover hot spots. Firefighters were expected to monitor the site today, Strehle said.

In the meantime, store owners said they would be contacting the building owner to learn his plans for rebuilding. Nearby Lake City Way business owners said they would find ways to help their neighbors.

Meanwhile, Munson was thinking about how quickly the face of a neighborhood can change.

"You think things tend to stay the same - not today," he said.