Since there is an abundance of older housing stock in the City of Seattle, it’s not uncommon to have the question of whether or not an oil tank is on a property. To determine if a tank has been decommissioned it is possible to contact the local Fire Department and have them look up the address to the property and see if one has been filed. In this case I called the Fire Marshall’s office for the City of Seattle.
The Seattle Fire Marshal’s Office is located at:
220 3rd Avenue South
Seattle, WA 98104-2608
Phone: 206-386-1450
fax: 206-386-1348
Business hours are:
Monday through Friday
8:00 AM to 4:30 PM.
Most decommissioning reports have only been in place for roughly the past 10 years so if it was done earlier you may not have a record available to you. I’ve found that most municipalities are similar in process to this method of investigation so depending on where you live, you’ll want to contact the fire department responsible for your area whether in city limits or in an unincorporated area.
Most reports are faxed and not emailed, so be sure you can provide a fax number to whomever you speak to. Some lenders require a copy of decommissioning reports so be prepared to give a copy to your mortgage company/broker/lender, escrow and other parties as necessary.
