Cause Of Fire At Caffe Fiore, Cocina Esperanza Released By Seattle Fire

SEATTLE, WA - The Seattle fire department on Monday reported that a fire at the Caffe Fiore and Cocina Esperanza locations in Sunset Hill Friday night caused about $130,000 in damage. The fire broke out around 11:3o p.m. Friday in a building at the corner of Northwest 85th Street and Loyal Way. Caffe Fiore's owners say that the fire was intentionally set.

According to the Seattle fire department, investigators have ruled the cause of the fire "incendiary" due to wood materials set on fire in front of Caffe Fiore.

"Fire Investigation Unit members ruled the fire as incendiary," the department wrote on its blog Monday. "Fire investigators determined the cause was from ignition of combustible materials on wooden chairs located on the outside of the building."

In a Facebook post on Saturday, a Fiore representative said that no one was injured in the fire, and suggested that the location might reopen at some point.

"Many of our neighbors were probably woken up by fire engines last night. Caffe Fiore on Sunset Hill was set on fire last night by arsonists. We're thankful that Marcos was at his restaurant at the time and was able to call the fire department. Things could've been a lot worse. Needless to say, we've got a lot of work ahead. Thank you to the community who has stopped by this morning and been so supportive. We have the best neighbors," the Facebook post read.

Fiore owner Deming Maclise told KOMO over the weekend that the perpetrator stacked a number of Adirondack chairs outside the store and lit them on fire. He also told the station that 15 people between the coffee shop and neighboring Cocina Esperanza, which was damaged, were out of work.

Caffe Fiore was founded in 2002 and has three other locations in Seattle in West Seattle, downtown Ballard, and Queen Anne.

Image via Seattle fire department