WATCH VIDEO | See firefighters put out house fires in two neighborhoods, just 18 hours apart …
Reports of fires in Hazelwood and Lents homes brings Portland Fire & Rescue firefighters to the rescue.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
House fires on the evening of April 26 and the afternoon of April 27 damaged East Portland homes – but apparently, not beyond repair, thanks to the prompt arrival and professional actions of Portland Fire & Rescue (PF&R) firefighters.
April 26 at 7:23 p.m.
Garage fire threatens Hazelwood home
With a fire burning in the detached garage of this house, fire crews made sure it didn’t spread to the nearby house.
Tuesday evening, April 26, PF&R crews were sent to the residence located at 734 NE 110th Avenue, about a block north of NE Glisan Street, for a reported garage fire.
The dispatch brought out PF&R Gateway Station Engine Company 30’s crew; as well as the Engine Company and Ladder Truck firefighters from Parkrose Training Station 2.
Firefighters found smoke issuing from the rear of a detached garage and seeping through the front garage door. Arriving crews reported that a patio cover extending between the garage and house, was giving them concern that the fire might spread into the 1948-built 1,176 sq. ft. house.
Behind the garage, firefighters stand by to help the crew members inside extinguish the fire.
After peeling off the garage door – using a portable metal-cutting circular saw like a can-opener – firefighters found that the garage was filled, floor-to-ceiling, with cardboard boxes containing belongings, as well as a discarded refrigerator.
An ambulance was also dispatched as a precaution, but it simply remained on standby until it was released back into service.
Before heading inside to have a look, a PF&R Fire Investigator speaks with the lieutenant riding Ladder Truck #2.
A PF&R Fire Investigator arrived to evaluate the burned structure. So far, the cause of this fire, and the extent of damage, have yet to be released.
April 27 at 2:37 p.m.
Basement fire damages Lents residence
Fire apparatus fills the intersection of SE Harold Street at 97th Avenue as firefighters band together to put out a house fire.
Crews head inside, pulling in water lines behiind them, to fight the fire.
A fire that was said to have started in the basement of a home located at 9703 SE Harold Street in the Lents neighborhood, spread up through the structure.
The residents and some neighbors called the 9-1-1 Center to report the fire in a rental house built in 1913, and owned by an investment company located east of Los Angeles in Rancho Cucamonga, California.
Watch our exclusive video, and witness the seldom-seen, three-crew-member SCBA air-bottle change-out procedure:
Less than four minutes after being dispatched, PF&R Lents Station 11’s Engine Company and Rescue Unit firefighters had pulled up at the fire. They reported smoke coming from an open rear door, and from the eaves of the two-story home.
Arriving a minute later were PF&R Mill Park Station 7’s Engine and Ladder Truck companies. As is protocol, one squad of firefighters were hooking up water supply line hoses and starting to fight the fire – while other crew members were inside, searching the structure for potential victims.
After cutting a hole in the roof to check for fire in the attic, these Ladder Truck crew members await instructions before cutting more holes to ventilate the smoke.
Ladder Truck #7 firefighters clambered up onto the roof of the 1.5 story house, and cut a hole in the roof for “vertical ventilation” – letting hot and potentially explosive gasses escape from the structure. Because they didn’t pull a hose line up to the roof, it was apparent that fire hadn’t reached the attic.
With the fire put out, crews gather to head back inside and start removing charred and burned materials from the house.
Within minutes, the fire was extinguished, and firefighters – equipped with fresh air bottles – headed back inside to “overhaul” the burned area, which involves removing burned materials and looking for embers.
The cause and extent of this fire hasn’t yet been revealed.
© 2022 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™