Fire Damages Commercial Building in Rural Washington County

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ore. — Firefighters battled a commercial building fire Wednesday morning at a former berry processing facility being used to grow hemp in rural Washington County.

Cornelius Firefighters were dispatched at approximately 6:46 a.m. Oct. 7 to a reported commercial fire at 2170 SW Lafollett Road, just outside the Cornelius city limits. While responding, crews observed a large column of smoke and upgraded the incident to a first-alarm fire.

When firefighters arrived, they found flames coming through the roof of the approximately 17,000-square-foot building. Due to the size of the structure, the incident was upgraded to a second alarm to bring additional firefighting resources to the scene.

Firefighters initially entered the building to attack the fire from the interior. After about 15 minutes, however, crews were withdrawn because the roof had become unstable.

Firefighters then transitioned to an exterior attack using hose lines and a ladder truck. After approximately 20 minutes of exterior operations, the structure was deemed stable enough for crews to re-enter and continue extinguishing the fire.

Firefighters faced additional challenges after part of the roof collapsed into the building, concealing several hot spots. Other hot spots along the roof line were also difficult to access. The fire was brought under control nearly two hours after the initial dispatch.

The rural location also presented a water-supply challenge because there were no nearby municipal fire hydrants. Seven 3,000-gallon water tenders shuttled water from the nearest hydrant within the city limits, making a 1.25-mile round trip for each water run.

One firefighter was evaluated at the scene for a minor extremity injury and did not require transportation to a hospital.

The building was originally constructed as a berry processing facility serving the area’s agricultural community. It was later divided into four sections and was being used for hemp cultivation at the time of the fire.

Firefighters were able to contain the fire to one of the four sections. The remaining three sections sustained smoke and water damage but were not directly affected by the flames.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Cornelius Fire Department was assisted by Forest Grove Fire & Rescue, Hillsboro Fire & Rescue, Gaston Fire District, Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue, Banks Fire District, AMR Washington County and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.

The response included seven engines, two trucks, seven water tenders and six chief officers, with a total of 59 fire personnel assigned to the incident.