Just before 3a.m. this morning, a person driving to work called 9-1-1 to report a house fire in the 300 block of NW 334th Avenue west of Hillsboro in unincorporated Washington County.

Firefighters from Hillsboro Fire & Rescue arrived first to find a two-story house with fire and smoke visible. Firefighters entered the house to fight the fire, conduct a search to confirm that all occupants were out, and shut off utilities. Crews extinguished the fire in less than twenty minutes and spent another hour mopping up hot spots, clearing smoke from the home and salvaging belongings. No one was injured.

A TVF&R fire investigator processed the scene and interviewed the sole resident. The investigator determined that improper disposal of smoking materials stored on a wooden deck caused the fire. The fire quickly spread from the outside into the walls and traveled quickly up to the attic space. The resident awoke to the smell of smoke and evacuated the house, which did not have working smoke alarms or a residential fire sprinkler system. The resident received assistance from the American Red Cross. 

Thank you to our public safety partners who worked at or supported this incident: Hillsboro Fire & Rescue, Cornelius Fire Department, American Red Cross, Washington County Consolidated Communications Agency (911), Washington County Sheriff’s Office and Metro West Ambulance.