Tualatin Valley Fire & RescueThe remains of the west end of the Birch Pointe Apartments following a three-alarm fire early today.BEAVERTON -- A three-alarm fire tore through an apartment building early this morning, displacing about 40 residents and killing a dog.
Investigators were examining whether a discarded cigarette caused the fire after a resident calling 9-1-1 said that might have started the flames he saw from his back deck, said Walt Peck, a Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue spokesman.
The blaze damaged 18 units, and Peck said it was "amazing" that no resident was hurt given the amount of fire and height of the flames.
"This was a pretty spectacular fire," he said.
Vigilant police officers, working smoke alarms and a fortified firewall helped prevent injuries and more extensive damage, officials said. However, the apartments were built before sprinklers were required in 1999 in such residential buildings, which would have prevented much of the damage, Peck said.
The fire began shortly before 1:30 a.m. when Hillsboro police -- in the area during a slow night -- responded to the Birch Pointe Apartments at 1770 N.W. Cornell Road, Peck said. When officers arrived, they saw flames shooting from one of the buildings.
Firefighters from Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue and the Hillsboro Fire Department arrived within 4½ minutes of the 9-1-1 call, Peck said.
Lt. Ronnie Mason's crew from Station 64 was the first to respond. As they pulled out of the station on Northwest 185th Avenue north of U.S. 26, they could see the flames more than a half-mile away. Mason called for a second alarm even before he got to the fire.
About 80 firefighters controlled the fire in 40 minutes.
Rebecca Lester said she heard pounding on the door of her apartment and saw the reflection of emergency lights.
"I thought, 'Oh, no, there's neighbors going at it,'" she said.
Then she heard someone yell, "Get out! The building's on fire!"
She woke her 13-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter, then fled from their second-floor apartment.
"It was the most frightening thing I have ever seen," she said. "It was this huge roar. There was popping and cracking and embers flying everywhere."
Mike Hull, who lived in the second-most damaged unit, was at work in Milwaukie when the fire started. He retrieved a few soot-covered belongings from his apartment Friday morning, but said there wasn't much left. "It's totally gutted," Hull said.
Hull, 55, fought back tears as he talked about his beagle, Bailey, who died in the fire. (I assisted this man...I could not keep back the tears when he told me how he and his son had just returned from burying his dog on Mt. Hood where the dog loved to play. )
"I'm glad everybody got out. Thank God the humans got out, for sure," he said.
Hull said he can live with his son until he finds something permanent.
"At least I have a better opportunity than some of the folks," he said.
Of the 18 units in the building, residents of seven units might need emergency shelter, said Tom McCann, public affairs manager for the American Red Cross Oregon Trail Chapter. The organization set up a service center at Oak Hills Christian Church, 2800 N.W. 153rd Ave.
Residents of five units can return to the apartments, and tenants in five others are staying with family or friends, McCann said. The resident of the final damaged unit was in the hospital for unrelated reasons, he said.
Lester said Birch Pointe managers found her another apartment there because her son has special needs and wouldn't do well in a shelter. Firefighters told Lester that her apartment had light water damage.
"I don't know what that means," she said. "I don't know what's going to happen."
-- David Austin of The Oregonian staff contributed to this report.
