Photo: Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue
Saturday at 8:36 a.m., Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue firefighters were dispatched to a commercial building fire, located off Tigard Street. On their way to the location, first-arriving crews could see billowing black smoke at a distance, which confirmed that it was a working fire.
The call was immediately upgraded to a first-alarm to bring in additional resources. Upon the crew's arrival on scene, they discovered a metal structure, used as an auto repair shop, completely engulfed in flames. This triggered an upgrade to a second-alarm to ensure adequate resources were on scene to assist with containing and extinguishing the fire.
Firefighters made sure no occupants were in the building. A motorhome located next to the repair shop did have an occupant inside at the time the fire broke out, but they were quickly evacuated by the neighbor who called in the fire to 911. Due to the contents in and around the structure, occupants in nearby facilities were also evacuated as a precaution.
Crews began aggressively fighting the fire, preventing it from spreading to any adjacent structures. They were able to knockdown the fire within 20 minutes from their arrival. The auto repair shop, vehicles and other contents that were inside the structure during the fire are a total loss.
Fire investigators are on scene working to narrow down the origin of the fire and possible cause.
TVF&R crews were assisted by Portland Fire & Rescue to fight the fire and Tigard Police Department who assisted with evacuating nearby structures and provided traffic control along Tigard Street.