Fire guts duplex unit in Cascade Park

Twenty-two firefighters from Vancouver and Camas on Thursday night battled a blaze that gutted one unit of a duplex townhouse near Southeast McGillivray Boulevard and Blairmont Drive in Cascade Park.

Firefighters managed to save most of the adjoining unit and kept the roof of a neighboring building wetted down to prevent it from catching fire.

“We had some flying firebrands threatening a neighboring home,” said Capt. Chris Moen with the Vancouver Fire Department.

An elderly woman who lived in the unit that was destroyed, at 1811 S.E. 146th Court, was taken by ambulance to a hospital, according to emergency radio traffic monitored at The Columbian.

“I think she got out of her home with some difficulty,” Moen said. “She was pretty shaken up getting out and had minor injuries.”

Firefighters were dispatched to the scene at 8:56 p.m. and arrived six minutes later to find the woman’s unit in flames, with fire burning in the attic.

“They got water on the fire really quick,” Moen said.

A firefighter who went inside the adjoining unit said it wasn’t burning there. Firefighters radioed they were trying to save the second unit.

The two units have a common attic, but firefighters saved most of the other unit.

An AMR Northwest ambulance paramedic radioed that one patient found at the scene was on the way to a hospital, but didn’t say what the problem was. Officials immediately called for a second ambulance to go to the scene and stand by in case someone else was found needing medical help.

The fire was under control at 9:30 p.m., Moen said.

No one except the elderly woman was reported injured.

The cause and dollar damage estimate hadn’t been determined.

Vancouver police blocked McGillivray in both directions because of fire crews and several engines dealing with the fire, in a cul-de-sac with little space for them to park.

The folks who live in the adjoining unit, at 1809 S.E. 146th Court, are displaced from that home until smoke and other damage is repaired.

Volunteers with the local Red Cross chapter are giving the occupants vouchers to pay for temporary lodging.

Moen reminded local residents it’s time to check their smoke detectors and batteries.

“They save lives,” he said.

Moen said it wasn’t immediately known whether the destroyed unit had a working smoke detector.

John Branton: 360-735-4513 or john.branton@columbian.com.