Portland Fire & Rescue
09/17/2024 | Press release | Archived content
Portland Fire responds to residential fire with trapped occupant. (Photo)
September 17, 2024 15:45
Portland Fire responds to residential fire with trapped occupant.
At 10:55 this morning, Portland Fire & Rescue responded to a residential fire in the Montavilla Neighborhood. It was discovered there was a trapped occupant in the structure upon arrival which led to the command officer requesting a second alarm assignment to ensure there were enough firefighters on scene to perform an extended rescue if needed. The occupant was located by fire crews and was safely escorted out of the structure. There were no injuries reported to any occupant or firefighter. There was a report that a cat did not survive the incident. Six occupants will be displaced and Red Cross is assisting in the process of relocation. The fire is currently under investigation.
PF&R Rescue 19 was out on the air and observed a large smoke column or header on the horizon and requested a residential first alarm box assignment which places 4 engines, 2 trucks, and 2 chiefs enroute the incident. A Portland Police Motorcycle Officer also observed the smoke column and responded to the location and arrived prior to any PF&R engine or truck to find an elderly occupant out front who communicated there was someone still inside the structure. With this information, the officer made entry into the home with large amounts of smoke pushing out the front door. The police officer was turned back due to the high heat and smoke present and was unable to locate the occupant. As the officer exited a different resident arrived on scene and dashed into the home in the attempt at locating the occupant but was also turned away due to heavy smoke and high heat trapped on the inside of the structure.
As crews were arriving and establishing a fire attack plan the dispatch center communicated that they were on the phone with a trapped occupant who was in the basement with a dog in the bathroom with the door closed. An off-duty Portland Firefighter was on scene and was able to obtain the location of the stairs to the basement from an occupant out front and communicated this to the first arriving truck crew, the crew that in fact took this firefighter off the truck at 0800 this morning. The command officer requested a second alarm assignment with the verified information of a trapped occupant to be certain there were enough firefighters on the scene to perform the rescue if this turned into an extended operation. The command officer then directed a focused search of the basement to locate and rescue the occupant. A firefighter from the truck crew located the occupant and dog in the basement bathroom and called for a mobile air pack to be brought into the basement to provide fresh air and create a survivable space given the heavy fire that was already present within the basement. After the radio request of the air bottle, he turned to the occupant and communicated that the smoke was not much different outside the bathroom than inside the bathroom and there was an available pathway to the stairs that were not yet impinged with fire and asked if they would like to make a quick exit. With an affirmative answer, the firefighter guided the occupant, who was holding a small dog, to the concrete stairs and they were able to safely and get outside the home. The occupant was evaluated by PFR paramedics on scene and was then transported to the hospital along with the other occupant who entered the home for a higher-level medical evaluation.
During the rescue efforts, the fire was continuing to grow with significant fire activity now in the attic and first level of the home. Crews were also cutting into the garage to gain access to find an alternative living space that slowed the progress of entering the home through the garage. There were handheld hose lines entering the front door along with taken around the back of the home to apply water on the external fire in the backyard, the large shed that was now completely engulfed in flames along with hose lines entering the back door of the home to apply water to the flames in the basement. The fire activity in the attic space was so significant that as soon as a roof vent cut was completed, the roofing material fell into the attic space because of the heat damage that had occurred in the period of heavy fire activity.
Following the successful rescue of the occupant crews sole focus was on fire suppression and in a period of 5-10 minutes much of the fire had been cooled or extinguished by the crews. An extended overhauling of the home followed the suppression of the flames to be sure all hidden hot spots had been found. Additionally, a crew was working with investigators to slowly work through the area of origin to aid in the discovery of cause. There will be 6 occupants displaced from this home with Red Cross assisting in their relocation.
Portland Fire would like to thank PPB in their response to this incident for traffic control but also want to acknowledge the incredibly heroic efforts of their motorcycle officer who entered the structure without any personal protective clothing or respiratory protection in the attempt at making a rescue of a trapped occupant. PF&R would also like to thank the work done by the dispatchers at BOEC with their help in determining a victim and alerting our crews to the location of the victim. We would also like to thank PGE for their response to eliminate electrical flow in the damaged overhead lines for the safety of those working on the scene.
(There is a short video of the escorted exit of the home put up on the PDXFire X - Twitter - account. This is placed on the public site for news agencies to use in their broadcasts.)
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