Fire consumes house in outer East Portland

The resident living inside made it out alive, but his house looks ruined, and some of his pets perished …

Enshrouded with smoke from a house fire, Portland Fire & Rescue apparatus fills S. E. 72^nd Avenue near Bybee Street.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

Several calls by neighbors to the 9-1-1 Center on August 16 at 8:08 p.m. about a house on fire at 6911 S. E. 72^nd Avenue near Bybee Street dispatched Portland Fire & Rescue crews to the address.

First in was PF&R Lents Station 11’s Engine Company; a crew member riding that rig reported back to dispatchers seeing heavy black smoke inside the 600 sq.ft. home, which was built in 1926.

Chainsaw in hand, a Ladder Truck firefighter ladders up to the roof of the burning house to ventilate the roof.

A minute later, the crews of PF&R Woodstock Station 25’s Engine and Ladder Truck companies pulled up.

A Battalion Chief sent some firefighters to look for victims inside the home, while others immediately started fighting the fire.

While some firefighters work to put out the blaze inside the house, smoke is released from the back part of the roof when crews cut holes to provide vertical ventilation.

According to PF&R Public Information Officer Terry Foster, crews entering the home encountered “heavy clutter inside the structure”, complicating the firefight.

By 8:22 p.m. firefighters had knocked down the main body of the fire; however Ladder Truck crew members were still on the roof, cutting holes to make sure the fire was fully out in the attic, and to provide “vertical ventilation” of potentially toxic and combustive gasses.

Providing additional support, these crewmembers, from PF&R Mt. Tabor Station 19 on East Burnside Street.

“At the time of dispatch, an ambulance was also sent to the incident,” Foster told T East Portland News. “The resident was evaluated by AMR paramedics, but was not take to a hospital.

“Sadly, three cats perished in the fire, and several others are missing,” Foster said.

After the fire is out, a resident of the burned house speaks with firefighters.

A PF&R Fire Investigator was at the scene, primarily examining a rear corner of the residence where the fire was thought to have started. The cause is still under investigation.

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