SEATTLE — A man was rescued from a home on a steep hill in Magnolia that slid 15 to 20 feet off its foundation Friday afternoon.
The Seattle Fire Department said the man was trapped under debris in the basement of a home in the 2400 block of Perkins Lane West. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center in stable condition, along with a woman who was able to escape on her own, according to the agency.
The slide appeared to be caused by the recent heavy rains that saturated the slope the house sat on, which is an area with a history of landslides, said Bryan Stevens, director of media relations for the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections.
One of the family’s dogs died while the other has not yet been found, the fire department said on Twitter.
A fire involving two propane tanks broke out at the back side of the house, fire officials said, and officers helped evacuate a neighboring home.
The city’s structural inspector assessed the damage, said Stevens, adding that the home was red-tagged as too dangerous to be occupied.
The inspector is also checking if other homes in the area were damaged and will consult with a geotechnical engineer about the hillside’s stability, Stevens said.
While there was no structural damage to a house south of the home that slid, Stevens said the city has advised the homeowners there to watch the slope and contact a private geotechnical engineer.
The Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections will work with other agencies, including the Seattle Department of Transportation, to address the damaged home and to limit street access in the area, Stevens said.
Homeowners in or near steep slopes should periodically check the hill’s stability and signs of soil movement, which include leaning trees and cracks in the soil, he added. The agency tracks landslide-prone areas, and you can see if your neighborhood is on the map at on the department’s Emergency Management’s Landslides and Earthquakes page, st.news/slides.
