Deborah,

The facility you are writing about is the UW Center for Urban Horticulture,
which adjoins the Montlake Fill itself. It sounds as if the fire did not
spread to the vegetation of the Fill.

Bob Sundstrom

----- Original Message -----
From: "Deborah Wisti-Peterson" <nyneve at u.washington.edu>
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>; "Deborah Wisti-Peterson"
<nyneve at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Monday, May 21, 2001 12:00 PM
Subject: montlake fill


>
> hello tweets,
>
> i was devasted to learn that one of my most favorite places in the
> world, the montlake fill, had been struck with tragedy early this
> morning. a three-alarm fire broke out in the administrative building
> shortly after 300am. the administrative building looks like it is a
> complete loss to my uneducated eyes.
>
> my immediate concern, when i heard about the fire this morning, was
> the condition of the library. i finally managed to find one fireman
> who knew something about the condition of the library's contents, and
> this fireman told me that there was some smoke damage to the main
> library but the rare books room was untouched. later, i talked to some
> of the librarians and grad students as they moved materials from the
> rare books room and placed them on long tables in the conference room
> to air out. they said the rare books are smoke damaged but seem to be
> dry. although the firemen did put plastic sheets and tarps over the
> library books, the library itself has at least one inch of water on the
> floor. no one was able to say for sure if the books were alright, but
> it is possible that at least some of the books in the main library are
> water damaged, but that does remain to be seen.
>
> while i was there, i watched a pair of starlings feed their chicks that
> were located somewhere in the roof of the issacson lecture hall. the
> parent birds were entering their nest on the same side of the building
> as the administrative office building (the one that burned). how they
> and their chicks survived the intense heat is something i'll never know.
>
> there were a couple pairs of frantic white-crowned sparrows in the
> parking lot next to the conference room, and a spotted towhee was
> "meowing" from the trees in the nearby garden. it would not surprise
> me to learn that these birds had lost their nests, but i can't be sure
> about that, yet.
>
> other birds seen on my quick walk back to my own, unburned, building
> included a single adult bald eagle, and a pair of cinnamon teal.
>
> i hope the university realizes the immense and unique value of this
> facility. the montlake fill is (arguably) the best academic outreach
> project that we have; i think it is the crown jewel of community-level
> environmental education and involvement. i look forward to the day when
> the fill recovers and becomes an even stronger and more integral member
> of our community than it was before. i know the community is waiting to
> be part of this recovery project, just as they have been involved with
> everything else that the fill asked of them.
>
> i wish the best of luck to everyone whose lives have been changed in
> this terrible tragedy. i hope they know that our hearts go out to them
> and that we are waiting to provide whatever assistance that they need,
> all they have to do is ask.
>
> regards,
>
> Deborah Wisti-Peterson, PhD Candidate nyneve at u.washington.edu
> Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash, USA
> Visit me on the web: http://students.washington.edu/~nyneve/
> Love the creator? Then protect the creation.
>