Investigators from Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue are working to determine the cause of a warehouse fire that occurred in Wilsonville last night. At approximately 10:16 p.m., fire crews responded to a cell phone caller’s report of smoke and fire coming from a large building visible from I-5. When the first engine arrived at 28120 SW Boberg, they found the steel and concrete building with paint seared off of some of the metal siding, but no visible smoke or fire. At approximately 10:25 p.m., dark gray smoke began to appear from the vents below the roof, and a second alarm was called.

Firefighters entered the building but had difficulty locating the origin of the fire due to heavy black smoke. An extensive search of the building finally revealed that the fire was involved in an upstairs office area and the adjacent attic space. Fire crews spent over an hour ensuring that there were no hot spots and the second alarm was recalled at 11:16 p.m.. A total of eight engines and three trucks, including mutual aid units from Lake Oswego Fire Department, responded.

The lengthy search for the fire’s origin may have been substantially reduced if the first arriving Wilsonville engine had had a thermal imaging camera which makes pictures of heat rather than light and enables firefighters to see through smoke and walls. Firefighter Pete Godon was the first to begin searching the building. "We were working under the fire the entire time and had no idea that it was only ten feet above us. We were confused by the changing direction of the thick black smoke. If we had a thermal imaging camera, I’m confident we would have been able to locate and begin extinguishing the fire before the next engine arrived."

Interestingly enough, efforts are already underway to raise money to buy a thermal imaging camera for the south Wilsonville fire station (Station 52). In March, the coordinators of the annual Wilsonville Community Walk announced that they wanted to donate proceeds of the August 12^th event to Wilsonville Fire Station 52. Station Captain Dave Allen suggested that a thermal imaging camera, which costs approximately $18,000, would be a good fund raising goal. To date, nearly $3,000 has been raised and the enthusiastic Walk coordinators are determined to meet their goal.

For more information on the Wilsonville Community Walk, please contact Community Liaison Cassandra Coogan.

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