B of A ATM fire NOT arson

$150,000 in damage apparently accidental

It turns out that what at first appeared to be an early-morning arson fire, burglary attempt, or political statement at the Madison Park Bank of America branch in November was probably something much more mundane.  The Seattle Fire Department reported last month that its arson investigator concluded that the cause of the fire was likely an ATM malfunction, possibly an electrical short in the cash machine's wiring. The SFD estimated the fire damage at $150,000.

We didn't see any news report about all of this, but we were taken to task today by the SFD public information officer who noted that the fire-investigation results had been posted on the Department's blog on January 5, almost a month ago.  He was reacting to our recent posting on the Wells Fargo branch vandalism, in which we suggested a possible link to the BofA branch arson.  Well, apparently there was none.

We stand corrected.

[The Madison Park Bank of America Branch is located at 4100 E. Madison Street.]

Short takes No. 11

Bank of America almost back to normal

Following the presumed arson fire at the BofA ATM earlier this month, the Bank needed to scramble to ensure customer service in Madison Park.  The branch itself was out of commission for about seven business days following the fire, finally reopening last Monday.  With the replacement ATM successfully installed and operating by Friday, the temporary mobile ATM--which had served a useful purpose during the interim--was driven away by Bank personnel on Saturday.

Bof A Manager Caitlin Bouroncle told us last week that while the branch is back to full service, there may still be a bit of contractor work going on for awhile.  When we went by earlier today, it appeared that the place was almost pristine.


An air of entitlement in Madison Park?

It's time for us to give a belated nod to an interesting piece posted on the Crosscut website earlier this month by Madison Park's resident journalistic gadfly, Knute Berger: "If fences make good neighbors, what happens when you take one down?"  Berger (aka "Mossback") dissects the current controversy over "access" to Lake Washington at Swingset Park, while ruminating on the nature of Madison Park and its denizens.

Calling the neighborhood "almost too good to be true" in some ways, Berger recites some of the blessings of living here, concluding that Madison Park "feels like a wealthy village that can afford to have the old neighborhood amenities that all neighborhoods used to have."  But he sees a darker side as well. "There's also a lot of entitlement in the air," he states, noting that "some people also believe they have a right to a sense of exclusivity here."   That attitude, he believes, permeates the debate over the fence, though he admits that not everyone living here shares that exclusivist position.  As for himself, he comes down strongly in the anti-exclusivist camp: "Madison Park, tear down that wall."

Those interested in reading the piece might also want to peruse the reader comments for some other perspectives on the neighborhood.


MPC makes the cut

The Madison Park Conservatory, which has consistently received good press since it opened exactly a year ago today, got another culinary send up last week when Seattle Times food critic, Providence Cicero, placed MPC on her list of the favorite Seattle restaurants she's reviewed in 2011.  The Conservatory is one of ten eateries making the list, which is available, along with her commentary, here.

Extreme cash withdrawal or anti-bank protest?

This was the scene at the Bank of America branch in Madison Park this morning as police and fire crews investigated what appears to have been a deliberately set fire using accelerants.  Whether this was some form of anti-Big Bank protest or simply a misguided attempt to extract money from BofA's ATM machine is not obvious.  According to the Seattle Police Blotter, the fire was reported at 2:00 am this morning by Seattle Police officers responding to a bank alarm.  The ATM was heavily in flames by that point, and the fire had spread into the building, including the attic.  It took about 40 minutes for the fire to be put out, according to the Seattle Fire Department blog.  The SPD also reported that Henry, the accelerant-sniffing dog, is responsible for determining that this was probably an arson fire.

This, courtesy of KING-TV, is what the building looked like after the fire had been doused:

We joked earlier this week that Madison Park is not the kind of neighborhood where residents are likely to toss bricks through the windows of a bank branch.  But how about burning down a bank branch?  Naw.  Must be an out-of-area hit.  Perhaps some kind of political Occupy Madison Park movement?  If so, no one has apparently claimed credit.

KING-TV reported that cash in the ATM was definitely burned in the fire.  The BofA branch, given the extent of the damage, is closed at least for the day.  Multiple fire-clean-up crews and glass repair workers are active on site, but no word on when the branch will reopen for business. We understand that there was little fire damage to the public space in the branch but that significant water and smoke damage occurred in the room housing the Bank's servers. The fire department broke the glass doors on both sides of the branch in order gain entrance.  Repair work was also underway today at Ewing & Clark, which shares the building with both BofA and a "pop-up" antique store.

[The Bank of America Branch is located at 4100 E. Madison Street.  KING-TV's report is here.]