Subject: montlake fill/Center for Urban Horticulture
Date: May 21 13:09:25 2001
From: Deborah Wisti-Peterson - nyneve at u.washington.edu



yes, indeed, you are correct. the vegetation is fine, although the lawn
surrounding the lower buildings are now a green marsh covered with
several inches of water. the administrative offices are not fine.
the hummingbird feeders that the office staff so lovingly maintained
are gone. i hope the hummers will be okay.

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.

On Mon, 21 May 2001, Robert Sundstrom wrote:

> 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.
> >
>
>