Construction workers help save 11-year-old girl from Vancouver house fire

Two construction workers who spotted smoke on their drive to work Thursday morning helped pull an 11-year-old girl from a burning house in the Barberton area.

The two men located the house fire shortly before 7:30 a.m. at 10505 N.E. Maitland Road and knocked on the door to alert anyone who was home, according to the Vancouver Fire Department.

No one answered, so the men knocked on the door of a small shop on the property. A man inside the shop answered and said his daughter was inside the house, the fire department said in a news release.

The front door of the house was blocked by smoke and fire, so the three men entered through a sliding door at the back, according to the news release. They found the girl inside and got her to safety, the fire department said. No one was injured.

Firefighters from the Vancouver Fire Department and Clark County Fire District 6 responded. The first firefighters to arrive from Fire District 6 saw smoke and flames coming from several windows of the small, one-story house, the news release states. Crews began spraying water through the windows and confirmed all occupants were out of the house.

Firefighters rescued a dog from inside the house; it was uninjured, according to Vancouver fire.

Twenty firefighters brought the blaze under control in about 15 minutes, the news release states. Crews remained on scene for several hours putting out hot spots and salvaging things inside.

The Red Cross responded to help the displaced family.

The Clark County Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of the fire.