NEWS RELEASE
March 13, 2001
Release:  Immediately
Contact:  Storm Smith, Community Liaison, (503) 612-7013

A Monday afternoon house fire heavily damaged a home at 1065 SW 178^th Place, Beaverton and sent one person to St. Vincent’s Hospital. Eleven units from Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue responded to the 4:18 p.m. 9-1-1 emergency call. The first unit arrived on the scene at 4:23 p.m. and found heavy smoke coming from the upstairs bedroom of the two-story house. Three people were attempting to save valuables from the burning home. Moments later, the upstairs window glass burst and flames erupted from the windows. It took firefighters about ten minutes to extinguish the fire.

One of the residents of the home, Jason Lord, 23, was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital and treated for smoke inhalation. Two other young men were in the home at the time and were not injured.

"One of the first rules to remember when a fire breaks out is to get out of the house and don't go back inside," said Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue spokesperson Storm Smith. Three young men, two of them residents and the third a guest, were downstairs when the fire broke out. A smoke alarm alerted the three to the presence of the fire. They reentered the house to try and save valuables and appliances.

A family pet, a miniature Terrier-Pekinese mixed breed dog, died apparently from smoke inhalation. The dog was found in a bedroom adjacent to the fire's origin.

"Here is a situation where residential sprinklers would have made a big impact on the outcome," said Smith. "If this home had been equipped with a sprinkler system, the damage probably would have been confined to a few pieces of furniture in one bedroom." The fire caused extensive damage to the upstairs portion of the house and moderate smoke damage to the first floor. Initial damage estimates are placed at $50,000. Investigators believe the most probable cause of the fire was careless smoking.

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