Fire at Grove Field Airport caused by electrical equipment failure

The Oct. 6 fire that destroyed eight to 10 planes and about a dozen hangar bays at Grove Field Airport north of Camas was caused by a failure in electrical equipment, the Clark County Fire Marshal’s Office said.

After finishing the investigation with private investigators hired by insurance companies, Deputy Fire Marshal Susan Anderson said the fire was accidental and originated in either a power strip or the electrical outlet that it was plugged into.

Because of extensive damage from the blaze, estimated at nearly $1 million, the cause couldn’t be narrowed down further.

“We like to know exactly what the circumstances were,” she said. “But the damage was so significant that we’re not likely to be able to do that.”

About 10,000 square feet of the building, which includes 10 hangar bays, was damaged by the flames. The airport is at 632 N.E. 267th Ave.

Firefighters from East County Fire & Rescue responded to the fire. Their station was a couple hundred feet from the blaze, which had flames that reached 40 to 50 feet high, as well as explosions.

Fire crews kept the blaze from spreading to adjacent buildings and knocked the fire down by about 11 p.m. No one was injured.

The building sustained about $40,000 damage, and the loss to the hangar’s contents, including eight to 10 small aircraft and four cars, totaled about $922,000, Anderson said.