Find out what gave firefighters a fright, when they started searching the house for victims …
Fire crews fill SE Morrison Street, in the Montavilla neighborhood, after a fire erupts in the basement of a residence.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
A fire that broke out in the basement of a rental house the afternoon of February 17 at 8032 SE Morrison Street caused Portland Fire & Rescue (PF&R) crews to be dispatched at 3:19 p.m. to the Montavilla neighborhood.
PF&R Mt. Tabor Station’s Rescue 19, a two-person crew, was the first rig in, and reported back to dispatchers seeing “heavy smoke showing” from the structure.
Firefighters head to the rear of a house, ready to fight a fire that broke out in the basement.
Within minutes of each other, crews from both PF&R Mill Park Station 7’s Engine Company and Ladder Truck Company arrived on scene, as did Station 19’s Engine Company. They were soon joined by the Woodstock Station 25’s Ladder Truck firefighters.
“The basement access was from an exterior door at the back of the house, that entered the kitchen and gave direct access to the basement, without going through the front door,” described PF&R Public Information Officer Lt. Rich Tyler later that evening.
After finding a hole burned through the floor, firefighters carefully enter the front door of the house as they start checking for hot spots.
Some firefighters were sent to search the house while others focused their efforts on extinguishing the fire in the basement.
Asked what complicated putting out this fire, Lt. Tyler told East Portland News, “Fire crews found hole burned through the first floor while searching the area. This shows how hot the basement fire got.”
A PF&R Fire Investigator heads to the rear of the house, ready to begin her inspection of the damage caused by the fire.
During the operation, it appeared that two or three people were receiving first aid out front. “Two adults were treated by PF&R crews and transported to an area hospital by ambulance crews,” noted Lt. Tyler.
“A dog and the cat were rescued, and transferred to some responsible helpers,” he added.
Firefighter/Paramedics provide on-the-spot first aid to fire victims before they are taken to a local hospital.
“As of now, the cause of the fire is still under investigation,” Lt. Tyler concluded.
© 2023 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™
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