Firefighters arrived within three minutes to 12505 SW North Dakota Street in Tigard on reports of heavy flames engulfing an apartment balcony. Multiple neighbors called 911 to report the fire on a second-story end unit. Neighbors reported assisting in evacuating other residents to safety as crews arrived. As a precaution, the incident as upgraded to a first-alarm response bringing additional resources to the scene. While firefighters worked to knock down the fire in the end unit, additional crews performed a search of the additional units within the building. Firefighters were able to confirm all residents were able to evacuate safely. No injuries were reported to residents or pets. The affected building contained a total of 16-units with fire damage contained to the one end unit. A total of 35 firefighters responded to the incident including TVF&R volunteers.

Smoke damage was reported in six of the 16-units and for safety, power was turned off to the entire building. It was reported that approximately 16 residents were displaced as result of the fire. The Red Cross responded to assist those residents impacted.

A TVF&R Fire Investigator concluded that the most likely cause of the fire was improperly disposed smoking materials. The fire originated on the exterior of the unit on the balcony then spread into the apartment unit. A damage estimate is not available at this time.

The building did not have a fire sprinkler system. When a fire sprinkler system is present, the likelihood of injuries and costly damage is dramatically reduced. More information about fire sprinkler systems can be found at: http://www.tvfr.com/index.aspx?nid=144. For additional safety tips, visit www.tvfr.com.

###