Firefighters train on stairclimb machines at the Tualatin 24 Hour Fitness
Off duty firefighters from Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue are turning heads at a local 24 Hour Fitness this week as they climb for a cause. TVF&R firefighters are training for the annual Scott Firefighter Stairclimb, a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. On March 11th, 44 off duty Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue firefighters will race to the top of the Columbia Center in downtown Seattle. Firefighters run up the 69 flights of stairs in full fire gear and breathing apparatus.
Today and tomorrow, TVF&R firefighters are training for the event on stairclimbing machines at the Tualatin 24 Hour Fitness. The training is turning heads and gym guests are asking how they can donate to the cause. Firefighters are passing out flyers detailing the website where guests can make a donation.
In 2011, the event featured over 1,500 firefighters from 281 different departments and brought in a record $930,000 for blood-cancer research and patient services. Â
While the firefighters welcome the challenge, they are doing this to raise money to fight blood cancers. All proceeds benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. If you’d like to donate, click here.
Firefighters battled a dangerous, fast moving fire in a mobile home this evening in Washington County. They successfully prevented the fire from spreading to surrounding mobile homes, but the involved unit is a total loss. No one was injured.
Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue firefighters were dispatched to 705 SW Concord Way in Washington County at 6:54 p.m. after residents of a mobile home park called 911 reporting a fast
moving fire in a mobile home. By the time firefighters from TVF&R and Hillsboro Fire and Rescue arrived minutes later, flames had consumed most of the structure and were blasting from every window in the building. The home’s occupant immediately assured firefighters that no one was inside and crews worked quickly to keep the flames from spreading to surrounding mobile homes.
Firefighters had the fire under control in roughly 20 minutes. During the fire, firefighters rescued a 3 month old Chihuahua that was running scared around the burning home. The dog, named Prieta, belongs to a neighbor.
TVF&R is working with the occupant of the home and the American Red Cross to find a place for her to sleep tonight. The fire’s cause is under investigation.
Approximately 40 firefighters from TVF&R, TVF&R volunteer firefighters and Hillsboro Fire responded to the fire.
Firefighters from TVF&R's West Linn Station 59 work outside the damaged home
Firefighters from Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue battled a one alarm fire early this morning in a West Linn town home. No one was injured and 3 snakes, including a 5 foot King Snake, were rescued from the home.
Firefighters were dispatched to 2014 Virginia Lane in West Linn at 11:55 pm Wednesday after a resident of the home called 911 reporting a fire on the home’s first floor. Firefighters from TVF&R’s Willamette Station 59 arrived minutes later to find heavy flames and smoke belching from the rear of the town home. Because the occupants told firefighters everyone was out of the home, firefighters quickly entered through the front door with a hose line and began attacking the flames.
Meanwhile, other fire equipment including a truck from Clackamas Fire arrived at the scene while crews awoke occupants in the neighboring town home and had them evacuate. Firefighters were soon able to extinguish the flames and determine that the fire had not spread to the adjacent town home.
A firefighter examines a terrarium containing a snake
After the fire was extinguished, the occupant advised firefighters that 3 snakes lived upstairs and may have survived. Firefighters were able to rescue the snakes and move them to a safe location.
There is significant smoke and fire damage to the entire first floor of the home. The home’s occupants, a man and two children, are displaced. Unfortunately, the occupants do not have renters insurance.
“We recommend every renter take out a rental insurance policy,” says TVF&R Public Affairs Officer Brian Barker, “most insurance providers offer renters insurance for less than $20 per month, and if you have a fire in your home or apartment the policy will help you replace what you’ve lost.”
To learn more about renters insurance and other advice for tenants, visit TVF&R’s web page by clicking here.
A team of 20 volunteer firefighters, family members and TVF&R staff raised $3,000 for Special Olympics Oregon and took part in the Polar Plunge last weekend in Portland. The annual event features teams from across the region raising money and then taking a very chilly dip in the Columbia River. This year’s team entry from TVF&R was called the Tualatin Valley Volunteer Firefighters Association Team.
The Special Olympics Oregon mission is to provide year-round sports and athletic competitions in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other athletes and community.
The Polar Plunge is just one example of the many events TVF&R’s volunteer firefighters and professional firefighters participate in each year to raise money for charity.
Firefighters douse hot spots at a structure fire on Clark Hill Road
Firefighters from Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue have been busy today battling three fires that broke out between 4:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. No one was injured and two of the three fires are under investigation.
The first fire was reported just before 4:00 a.m. at 17289 NW Countryridge Drive in the Rock Creek area. Firefighters arrived to find heavy smoke and flames coming from the home. Firefighters quickly determined no one was inside the home and worked to keep the wind driven fire from spreading to surrounding structures. The house was seriously damaged and investigators are working to find a cause of the fire.
Firefighters work to extinguish a small brush fire near King City
The second fire was reported at 10:46 a.m. on Highway 99 near the Tualatin National Wildlife Refuge. A property owner had been intentionally burning blackberry bushes on his property near the road when wind unexpectedly fanned the flames and caused them to spread to a nearby field. People driving on Highway 99 called 911 reporting large flames moving towards a nearby home. Firefighters from TVF&R’s King City Station 35 arrived minutes later and, with the help of TVF&R Engine 50, firefighters were able to stop the flames before they spread to a nearby home.
“Even in the winter, the grass is dry enough to burn,” says TVF&R Public Information Officer Brian Barker, “combine this unusual dry spell with the wind we’re getting today and you have a recipe for fast moving fires. This is a good reminder to use extreme caution with fire year round.”
TVF&R’s third fire of the day was reported at 1:00 at 9400 SW Clark Hill Road in Washington County. A property owner called 911 reporting that a greenhouse was on fire. Firefighters from TVF&R’s Aloha and Beaverton fire stations arrived minutes later to find a 20 foot by 40 foot structure on fire. Firefighters quickly determined that no one was in the burning building and focused on ensuring the flames didn’t spread to nearby vegetation. Because there are no fire hydrants in the area, TVF&R was assisted by a water tender from Washington County Fire District 2. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Firefighters from Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue and Hillsboro Fire responded to a residential fire at 17289 NW Countryridge Drive just prior to 4 AM this morning. Even in the darkness, the smoke column was visible from several blocks away. As the first units arrived, neighbors described flames cresting ten feet above the rear of the single family home.
Firefighters first priority was determining whether anyone was in the home. Search efforts were complicated by heavy fire and smoke and the fact that the blaze had already burned through significant portions of the flooring. Two searches determined the home was unoccupied.
With strong winds blowing, the next priority was to control the fire while protecting adjacent homes. Crews worked from the roof and from all sides of the structure and controlled the blaze in 20 minutes.
The extent of damage to the floor suggested that the fire had been burning for sometime before neighbors called 9-1-1. There were no injuries. Investigators are on scene. There is no information at this time about a possible cause.
Firefighters coordinate their activities after extinguishing a fire inside a home in Beaverton
Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue firefighters have been busy today responding to and extinguishing a residential fire this morning and a commercial fire this afternoon.
The first fire was reported at 11:30 this morning at 12715 SW Conestoga Drive in Beaverton. Firefighters arrived to find smoke in a home at that address. After quickly ensuring no one was in the home, they located a small fire burning in a crawl space beneath the home. Despite close quarters beneath the home, firefighters were able to stop the fire from causing significant damage to any rooms in the home. Fire damage was confined to a small area beneath the floor. No one was injured.
Firefighters from King City and Tualatin extinguished a fire in a commercial facility in Tualatin
Less than two hours later, TVF&R firefighters responded to another fire in a commercial sandblasting facility at 10000 SW Herman Road in Tualatin. Firefighters from Tualatin and King City quickly located and extinguished a small fire inside the facility that had generated a moderate amount of smoke in the building. TVF&R fire investigators determined that the fire was accidental in nature and was caused by a part of the sandblasting process the business uses. No one was injured and damage was minimal.
TVF&R is investigating a fire in a bathroom at West Linn High School. One staff member at the school was transported to Willamette Falls Hospital to be evaluated after inhaling smoke.
Firefighters from TVF&R’s Bolton Station 58 were dispatched to West Linn High School at 11:01 after a fire was reported in the bathroom. Firefighters arrived to find the school evacuated and smoke in the building. Firefighters quickly made their way to the bathroom and ensured that the fire was out while other firefighters evaluated one employee who had inhaled smoke while extinguishing the fire. The employee was transported to Willamette Falls Hospital for precautionary reasons.
Firefighters determined that the fire did not spread to the rest of the building. It took more than an hour for firefighters from TVF&R and Clackamas Fire to successfully clear smoke from the building using fans and the building’s HVAC system.Â
A TVF&R investigator is working with West Linn Police to determine the cause of the fire.
On January 23rd, TVF&R’s Board of Directors and Deputy Fire Chief Dustin Morrow recognized Catlin Gabel High School student, Anne Gilleland, and her robotics team coach, Dale Yocum, for their recent work to resuscitate TVF&R’s Robbie the Robot. The fire hydrant mascot had been used for decades at community events to help children learn about fire safety. However, in recent years, Robbie’s 1980′s technology no longer worked, and he faced the fate of being recycled. (New animated hydrants cost $5,000 or more, so TVF&R had no budget to replace Robbie.)
Last fall, Anne and Dale put their robotics knowledge to work and were able to locate hard-to-find parts, install new drive belts, and fix corroded connections. Once Robbie was running again, Deputy Fire Marshal Jeff Lee gave him a complete makeover which included new paint.
The Catlin Gabel Robotics Team, also known as the Flaming Chickens, are active year-round and compete in contests locally, regionally, nationally and globally. During competition season, students spend as much as six hours per day working on software, fabrication, and control systems for robots.
Thank you Anne and Dale for resuscitating our old friend, Robbie! We look forward to using him for many years in our fire safety program.
Investigators continue to conduct witness interviews, examine evidence, and analyze burn patterns to determine what caused an early morning fire that destroyed four cars, damaged six additional cars, and caused heat damage to the siding of a nearby building.
 Just after 2 a.m. this morning, several frantic callers living in the Hallwood Apartments in Beaverton described a fiery scene outside their windows. While 9-1-1 dispatchers attempted to calm them and provided safety instructions, firefighters from Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue responded to the blazing carport that was threatening the three-story building nearby. Fire crews split up to evacuate residents and contain the mass of burning vehicles and the collapsing roof.
Though the firefighters’ aggressive fire attack wasn’t able to save some of the vehicles, they kept the fire from spreading to the apartment building where dozens of residents could have been harmed or displaced. Additional firefighter paramedics and ambulances from Metro West were staged nearby in case anyone was hurt, but fortunately none of the residents or emergency responders suffered injuries. All of the residents were able to return to their homes.
There is no damage estimate at this time, and fire investigators have narrowed the area of the fire’s origin to a recycling and trash containment area.Â
Since 1995, Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue has responded to at least 1200 apartment fires in which:
•18 tenants have died
•50 tenants have been injured
•Over 550 tenants displaced, and
•Millions of dollars in property damage has occurred
 To reduce these devastating fires, TVF&R has a Multi-Family Housing Fire Reduction Program. This innovative, multi-faceted program offers resources and training for landlords, property owners, and tenants in hopes of keeping their apartment community safer from fire. Visit the Fire District’s web site for more safety tips for landlords or tenants.
