Elderly Seattle man's death in fire ruled suicide

An 89-year-old man whose body was found after an apartment building fire fatally shot himself in the head, the King County medical examiner's office said Tuesday.

The medical examiner ruled Edward Jackson's death a suicide one day after the blaze engulfed the Capitol Hill apartment building where he was the only tenant remaining. Jackson had defied orders to vacate the building, which is slated to be razed for new condominiums.

Seattle Fire Department spokeswoman Dana Vander Houwen said investigators determined that the fire started when an open flame was used to ignite combustible materials. She added the fire started in Jackson's unit.

Jackson had lived in the apartment building for more than 40 years, said Dennis Saxman, a local neighborhood activist who is outspoken against the area's new development.

Saxman said he met Jackson this past year when the elderly man sought help during his legal tangle with the developer that bought the apartment building in 2006.

Calls for comment to Seattle-based Stratford Management Co. were not immediately returned Tuesday.

Saxman said Jackson had found another place to live, but his health was deteriorating, and it was a logistical challenge to move all of the man's belongings.

"I think it's very tragic, you have a situation here, whereby the emphasis is on the development," Saxman said. "There's all the emphasis on the physical nature, financial nature (of development), but there's little consideration of its human impact."