Fire smokes out downtown area

A quick-thinking neighbor called 911 when he saw a west Vancouver house in flames Thursday evening — then climbed onto the roof of a home next door to the burning one and used a garden hose to protect its roof.

“There was smoke everywhere,” Kevin Noel, 21, said later. “I could barely breathe. I was spraying my shirt to breathe through. You could feel the heat a good 15 feet away. I thought the flames might shoot out from around the corner.”

At 6:11 p.m., the Vancouver Fire Department was called to 2306 Thompson Ave., just west of the BNSF Railway tracks and a few blocks north of Mill Plain Boulevard, said Capt. Chris Moen.

The fire south of Fruit Valley Road and Fourth Plain Boulevard pumped acrid smoke throughout most of downtown Vancouver.

The first crews arrived in six minutes to find heavy smoke belching from a fire in the attic and large flames erupting from the roof of the two-story house, which faces a paved alley between Thompson and Simpson avenues.

In addition, the wood fences of two adjoining houses were only about six feet from the walls of the burning house, and the houses themselves were only another six feet from the fences.

Fire commanders called for a second alarm that bought more engine crews, including some from Fire District 6.

Firefighters had been told the burning house was vacant, and crews were able to go inside and make sure no one was there before the burning roof beams started to sag and collapse, Moen said. Firefighters then had to retreat outside because of the danger.

Fire engine crews took positions at the front and rear of the burning house and prevented flaming embers from catching fire on the nearby adjoining houses.

At the back of the burning house, firefighters on ladders sawed a hole through the gable, a technique called a “gable end cut,” so they could stream water into the burning attic where the flames were raging.

Firefighters brought the fire under control at 6:53 p.m., 36 minutes after they arrived, Moen said.

In the end, the house was only moderately damaged, because the flames had been confined to the attic and roof, which was destroyed. The first and second floors did sustain smoke and water damage, Moen said.

Leslie Gray, who lives directly across the alley from the burning house, and her friend Kaile Kirk, who was visiting, said they were concerned when they came outside because they have children.

“I saw smoke, lots of smoke,” Gray said.

In between billows of gray and black smoke, they said they could make out someone on the roof of the next-door neighbor’s home, using a hose.

It was Noel, who said he at first tried to spurt water on the flames of the burning house, but realized they were too large.

“Once I realized I couldn’t get the flames, I just sprayed everything I could to get everything nice and wet.”

Noel, who said he works at Global Paper in Vancouver, said he then climbed off the roof of the home and let the owner’s dog out — to get away from the smoke.

The owner of the home Noel protected, Tony Phelps, said he’d been playing softball when someone told him about the fire next door to his home.

He said he came home, concerned about his huge dog, Manu, because of the smoke.

“Kevin was the one who saved the day, for sure,” Phelps said.

Noel said he wasn’t burned and added, “If something like that happened to my house, I’d want someone to look out for my house as well.”

The cause of the blaze was under investigation and hadn’t been reported late Thursday night. A dollar damage estimate wasn’t immediately available.

A real estate agency’s “for sale” sign was posted at the front of the house Thursday evening.

Several neighbors said the house had been offered for sale for a long time, although people in different vehicles came and went into the garage frequently.

The house is owned by Ismael and Yolanda Arredondo, according to county records, which say it was built in 2006 and has an assessed value of $233,000.