A malfunctioning steam heating system sent plumes of steam from the roof of Seattle Central College's main building early Monday, June 8, drawing a Seattle Fire Department response to the Broadway campus just after midnight.

No one was injured, but the incident comes as college officials have warned for years that the campus steam system is failing, and the $22.4 million plan to replace it still lacks confirmed state funding.

Firefighters responded to reports of smoke pouring from the building's roof, according to CHS Capitol Hill Seattle. Crews spent about two hours on scene, first confirming there was no fire, then working with school staff to shut off the steam line. The malfunction came from a ventilation shaft connected to the college's steam-powered heating system.

Neighbors around Broadway and Pine heard the result: a rhythmic "kachug kachug kachug" of steam escaping into the night sky for hours.

The system's age is no secret. College officials declared it "at the end of its anticipated life" as far back as 2022. The system was originally powered by heavy fuel oil before switching to natural gas.

Lincoln Ferris, then Seattle Central's interim vice president of administrative services, warned in a trade publication interview that "a catastrophic failure of the steam supply could shut down the campus for weeks, if not more, depending on the severity of the break."

Seattle Central has proposed replacing the steam infrastructure with an electric heat-pump network called the EcoDistrict. The Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges listed the project as Priority No. 3 in its 2026 supplemental capital budget request, seeking $22.4 million for design and construction.

As of December 2024, the college had secured $2 million in grants toward the project, including a $700,000 federal energy grant obtained through Seattle City Light. College leadership recommended launching the effort in the 2027–2029 state budget biennium.

Whether the legislature approved the request has not been publicly confirmed in available state records.

Monday's malfunction is not the campus's first infrastructure emergency. A burst water pipe in 2024 caused major damage to the SCC Fine Arts building and forced the long-term closure of the Egyptian Theatre, ending SIFF's tenancy there. The theater reopened this spring without the film festival.

The EcoDistrict project remains the college's proposed path forward, but its $22.4 million price tag still depends on state legislators acting in the next biennium cycle.