The owner of the building told KING 5 that he has tried to board up, padlock and install barbed wire to keep people from breaking in.

Monday was the last time he said he called police when they learned people were starting fires in the building. He cleaned everything up, padlocked the doors and receives the phone call on Friday that his building was burning down.

“There’s no more structure holding it up, it’s only a matter of time,” said Ian McGlynn, who has watched this building sit abandoned for years.

Read more: https://www.king5.com/article/traffic/lake-city-way-fire-seattle-vacant-building/281-7a864a89-4101-4277-b6e6-781fb425de42