A fire in White Salmon on Tuesday morning caused significant damage to an apartment building and affected as many as 40 people.
White Salmon Fire Chief Bill Hunsaker said the initial emergency call about the structure fire in the 200 block of Northeast Rhine Village Drive came in at 2:35 a.m.
Hunsaker’s fire department and three others from nearby communities launched multiple fire engines, with more than three dozen personnel helping out.
Firefighters arrived at the apartment and saw flames venting through the roof and windows of one of four units, the fire chief said.
It took the firefighters about two hours to get the blaze under control, and several more hours to ensure the damaged building would not rekindle.
The fire appears to have originated from the kitchen of an upstairs unit, Hunsaker said, but the exact cause is still being investigated. An adjacent apartment sustained less fire damage, as well as smoke and water damage. Two downstairs units also received smoke and water damage.
American Red Cross Cascades Region said in a press release Tuesday that 14 children were among those displaced by the fire. Red Cross put the total number of victims at 30, but Hunsaker said more people appear to have been affected.
Hunsaker described the apartment, and another on the same piece of land, as low-income housing. He said a lot of people were living there.
The second apartment building had its power and water shut off due to a shared meter, increasing the number of affected people.
The Red Cross is addressing the immediate needs of the victims, such as temporary housing, food, clothing and recovery services. Regional communications director Monique Dugaw said many of them spent the night at Church of the Nazarene in White Salmon.
Power will likely be restored to the second apartment building, so an established emergency shelter was unnecessary, Dugaw said.
