The Seattle Fire Department preemptively put out a fire—or ignited one—when they shut down the famous Fremont fire pit Monday, July 9. First, on Saturday, July 7, the fire marshal threatened to fine the city $1,000 per day unless the pit was removed. The Seattle Parks and Recreation Department, which would have had to pay the fine, posted a sign, temporarily banning fires. The sign was apparently burned. So, the parks department covered the pit with dirt and turf.
The fire pit—located in Fremont Canal Park, north of the ship canal—was a collaboration between the city and local artists. Since its creation in 1993, the fire pit has grown to be a popular location for gatherings by various groups, including freestyle drummers and cyclists.
Fire pit enthusiasts were inflamed. John Murphy, an ex-Fremont resident and ex-member of the board of directors for the Fremont Arts Council, says, "Fremont is a rotting corpse of the art spot it used to be. It has become a homogenized space and a normal space—it's become Pioneer Square." He believes the city is not concerned with safety, but rather enforcing regulations. "It's virtually impossible for fires to spread. I've personally had fires up to 80 feet." Nonetheless, he concedes that the fire pit does not follow the city's codes.
Although the city allows general use of the fire pit, it requires a no-cost permit for fires that are larger than three feet in diameter or more than two feet tall.
There were only two permits issued in 2006 and none in 2007. "Our process was that you get a permit, but people weren't doing that," says Royal Alley-Barnes, the parks department's north operations manager. "You just call up and they fax it to you. I really don't know what could be easier."
Procuring a permit isn't quite as easy as Alley-Barnes claims. It's a two-step process involving the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency and the Seattle Fire Department. There are no permanent regulations for the Fremont fire pit—the regulations for each fire are decided on a case-by-case basis. Although this creates appropriate regulations for each fire, it also creates a somewhat arduous bureaucratic process.
The recent attention to the legal issues of the fire pit may have been sparked by neighborhood complaints to the fire and police departments, who have both received numerous calls for noise violations and untended fires. 
