Looking Back: The Linden apartment fire of 2021

A 2021 fire raged through all four stories of the Linden Highlands Apartments, trapping elderly and disabled residents inside.

On April 14, 2021, around 11:30pm, Shoreline Police Officers were dispatched to the Linden Highlands Apartments at 17520 Linden Ave N, Shoreline, WA 98133 for a suspicious circumstances call. Multiple callers heard what they thought were gunshots.

The first Officers on the scene quickly realized the sound was breaking glass. An apartment fire had fully engulfed the first floor and was quickly spreading to all four stories.

Shoreline Fire was quickly on the scene but the fire had spread quickly.
Photo courtesy Shoreline Fire

Officers from Shoreline entered the apartment building and began to evacuate numerous elderly and disabled residents who could not escape their apartment units without help. Kenmore Police and Metro Transit Detectives were nearby and joined the rescue efforts.

Emergency response from all nearby fire departments.
Photo KCSO

Lake Forest Park officers came in to assist, helping some residents to evacuate the building, handing out blankets and looking after the displaced residents until the Red Cross could arrive. They prevented an intoxicated and agitated resident from re-entering the fire.

Emergency vehicles from Shoreline, Kenmore, Seattle, Lake Forest Park, Bothell, Woodinville, and Snohomish county responded to the scene.

When Shoreline Fire arrived on the scene, the Battalion Chief yelled to the Officers to get out of the building because of how quickly the fire was spreading. 

Officers yelled back that there were still people trapped inside and ran back into the burning building.

Fire stayed on scene to take care of any remaining hot spots which could restart the fire.
Photo courtesy Shoreline Fire

These officers and Detectives placed their own lives in extreme danger to help save numerous residents.

Four Officers were transported to Harborview Hospital for smoke inhalation. Two Officers were admitted overnight, but thankfully, they all fully recovered and returned to full duty.

Miraculously there were no serious injuries or fatalities. If it weren't for the heroic actions of these first responders, this would not have been the same outcome. Over 45 families were displaced because of this fire.

Shoreline Fire Chief Matt Cowan wrote a letter to Shoreline Police Chief Shawn Ledford.

I know that I had the opportunity to thank many of the Officers personally at your incident debriefing on the 20th, but I felt compelled to follow that up with a letter of commendation. I listened to the incident and have discussed the call with a few different Officers that were at the fire. 

It seems very clear to me that not only did the Officers go above and beyond in their duties, but that they saved lives that night. And at risk to their own lives with four of them needing to go to the hospital. The residents in the complex were very blessed that the Officers were there on a separate incident when this fire broke out otherwise this fire could have been tragic.  

I do not want to minimize the damage that was done by the fire, but over the years I have seen incidents that would have resulted in far worse outcomes if it wasn’t for the actions of a few. This is one of them. Please pass along my sincere thanks to the Officers, and their Commanders for their heroic actions. 

At the first meeting after the fire, Shoreline Mayor Will Hall, on behalf of the city council, said thank you to the police and firefighters who responded to the huge fire at the Linden Apartments. 

"There were 16 deputies from Shoreline, Kenmore and Metro Transit who showed up and risked their own lives saving the lives of people living in those apartments. In the course of doing that, four of the police officers were hospitalized for smoke inhalation. We wish the best to these officers and everyone else who was affected by this fire."

From left: Acting Shoreline Police Chief Ryan Abbott, Officer Justin Camplin, MPO Terry Ater, Sheriff Cole-Tindall at the presentation of the Medal of Valor award

King County Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall awarded Shoreline Officer Justin Camplin and Master Police Officer Terry Ater the Medal of Valor, the highest award.

Sgt Jaimes Deer receiving the Sheriff's Star award from Acting Shoreline Police Chief Ryan Abbott and King County Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall

Shoreline Police Officers received the Sheriff's Star award

She awarded the following Shoreline Police Officers the department's second highest award, the Sheriff's Star;

• Sgt Jaime Deer,
• Sgt Tanner Owens,
• Deputy Ryan Fenton,
• Deputy Kimberly Swanson,
• Deputy Alex Glavin,
• MPO Cary Coblantz,
• Kenmore Officer Matt Toscano
• Metro Transit Detective Gerry Meyer,
• Metro Transit Detective Matt Volpe
• Metro Transit Detective Ben Emmons

Fire investigators discovered that the fire was caused by faulty wiring in a first floor apartment.