Montavilla apartment fire at dawn injures one

It’s unclear how this outer East Portland fire started, but it left three residents without a home. It’s said there were no working alarms …

Firefighters rush to put water on a residential fire in a Montavilla neighborhood apartment complex. PF&R image

By David F. Ashton

Residents were aroused at 4:45 a.m. in a small, one-story unnamed, apartment complex, on S.E. Main Street the morning of April 2, when a fire erupted in one of the units.

The crew riding Portland Fire & Rescue (PF&R) Engine 19 about 4:50 a.m., that morning, reported back to dispatchers they’d found “heavy fire and smoke” in an easterly unit of the horseshoe-shaped complex.

-2 Working both inside and out of these apartments, firefighters continue to quench a once-raging fire. PF&R image

A PF&R official initially reported that, “One occupant made it out safely” – as the firefight continued.

By 6:26 a.m., the official gave an update: “firefighters were able to contain this fire to two units in the apartment complex; one occupant was transported to Emanuel Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.”

Firefighters cut away sections of the room containing embers. PF&R image

The American Red Cross Cascades Chapter assisted by providing “comfort kits” to three residents, and helping them find shelter.
Fire crews told reporters there were no working smoke alarms in an apartment that caught fire. The cause of the fire is unknown, but it’s under investigation.

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