Firefighters Respond to House Fire in Forest Grove, OR

Forest Grove, OR. — Official Release: At 9:04am on Tuesday June 3rd, Forest Grove Firefighters were dispatched to a house fire on Rhodora Street. While crews were responding, a large column of smoke was visible and the incident was upgraded to a confirmed fire (1st Alarm assignment). The first fire unit arrived four minutes after being dispatched to find a house with a large volume of fire in the back of the house, the flames had begun to also spread through the house. Due to the amount of fire, incident command requested a 2nd Alarm to bring additional crews to the scene. It took firefighters approximately 30 minutes to knock down the flames with an additional hour of putting out hot spots.

During the first few minutes of the incident, there was initially an unknown type gas cylinder venting under the burning debris. Until crews could find out what type it was, incident command requested our dispatch center to send out a reverse 911 message to area residents and businesses to shelter in place. This request was lifted twenty minutes later once it was determined to be a propane tank and it had stopped venting. 

Two residents were home at the time of the fire and were able to evacuate from the house when the fire was discovered. One of those residents was evaluated on scene by AMR for potentials burns, but did not require further treatment at a hospital.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but is believed to have originated on the back deck/patio of the house. A total of six adults are displaced and are receiving assistance by the American Red Cross. 

With cell phones becoming the primary communications source for houses, it is a great reminder to register your phone number(s) with your address. This will allow you to recieve emergency alerts like evacuation notices during emergencies. To sign up or update your information, visit publicalerts.org.