Two women suffer smoke inhalation in apartment fire

A clip-on lamp fell and started a small fire in a bedroom inside a second-story apartment in a Cascade Park neighborhood on Wednesday.

Two adult women were transported to an area hospital with minor smoke inhalation, said Scott Willis of the Vancouver Fire Department. Their names were not available because of privacy laws.

Fire crews were dispatched at 1:33 p.m. to unit MM 123 in the The Park at Mill Plain complex, 12800 N.E. Fourth St. An engine reached the scene of the fire four minutes later.

Willis said a trickling of smoke was visible outside the apartment.

“The sprinkler system mostly got it,” Willis said.

The fire was deemed under control shortly after 1:50 p.m.

All residents at the complex are required to have insurance. Willis said management at the apartment complex made sure fire lanes were clear.

He said the two women who occupy the apartment are not likely to be displaced for a significant amount of time.

“Once their contents are cleared out of there, it’ll be livable,” Willis said.

There is possible water damage in the unit below the apartment where the fire broke out. Willis said a man who lives in that residence is out of town.

Fire marshals determined the fire was accidental. Willis said investigators assessed the damage at $5,000.

He added visible flames alerted the two women, and that the unit’s smoke detectors worked.