Forest Grove apt fire sweeps through converted house; 1 dies

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A fire that swept through an old house converted to apartments left one person dead and the building heavily damaged, Forest Grove Fire & Rescue said.

The fire near 1900 A Street was called in around 5:15 p.m. Friday. A large column of smoke, visible for quite a distance, prompted an upgrade to a second-alarm fire.

Fire crews spotted heavy fire coming out of one side of the old house converted into apartments. One person was found dead when firefighters first arrived on scene.

Two off-duty firefighters from Hillsboro Fire & Rescue helped residents evacuate from the second floor using a ladder.

“This could have been a much worse situation. Both firefighters at work, one of them is actively working for the city of Hillsboro. The other one is retired. They both live here in the community,” Forest Grove Fire & Rescue Division Chief David Nemeyer told KOIN 6 News. “They were nearby. This is a downtown business district, so they were nearby just by chance. One of them effected a rescue on a ladder. The other one got folks out of the out of the apartments on the first floor. Just a tremendous job by those folks. Really, really super proud of them.”

Crews then fought the blaze both outside and inside the building, but officials said the flames spread to the attic and caused the roof to weaken. Firefighters then left the building and fought the blaze from the outside.

It took nearly 3 hours to knock down the fire and put out the hotspots in the walls and attic, authorities said.

One firefighter was taken to a hospital for heat exhaustion.

The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.