At 9:59 a.m. Monday, Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue firefighters were dispatched to an apartment fire in the 12300 block of Northwest Barnes Road in Cedar Mill. Engine 61 from the Butner Road Station arrived within five minutes and found a two-story apartment building with significant fire coming from the back side of the building. Due to the significant amount of fire, the incident commander upgraded the incident to a second alarm, bringing additional firefighters to the scene.
Firefighters quickly extended hose lines to the back of the structure and began extinguishing the fire. As additional firefighters arrived on scene, more hose lines were deployed through the front door of an apartment to fully extinguish the fire. Firefighters searched the structure for victims and determined that all occupants had evacuated the apartment. Additional firefighters cut holes in the roof to allow heat and smoke to escape the attic space. In total, it took 35 firefighters 20 minutes to bring the fire under control.
Five apartment units were damaged in the fire, displacing eight people. Red Cross has been contacted and is assisting the displaced residents. Two uninjured cats were rescued from the structure.
TVF&R fire investigators are on scene to determine the cause of the fire.
TVF&R was assisted by Portland Fire and Rescue, Washington County Sheriff’s Office, American Medical Response, Portland General Electric, and Northwest Natural Gas with this incident.