On Saturday, March 12, 2022 at 9:07am crews were dispatched to 777 Port Avenue in St. Helens. The call was reported as a storage unit commercial fire with heavy smoke showing. On arrival, Firefighters found that smoke was visible on all bay doors with heavy smoke showing throughout along with flames showing from a few of the storage units. Â Due to the wind, Firefighters were hindered by poor visibility and air quality. Significant progress was made throughout the morning to hold the fire progress to the initial building and ultimately helped to save the additional buildings from catching fire.Â
Unfortunately, one of Columbia River Fire & Rescue’s Firefighters was injured on scene. Medic 470 transported the Firefighter to a Portland hospital. That individual was ultimately released later that day and is now home resting.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation per the Fire Marshal. The entire 300 building suffered heavy damage. The owner of the building is working with insurance to determine the estimated amount of damage. The challenges of fighting a fire of this nature on this particular day were a multitude of things, first and foremost are the concurrent calls for service which creates a challenge on staffing. This is one of many reasons Columbia River Fire & Rescue operate with a combination department (meaning they have volunteers who can respond to calls from home to bolster the current staffing levels of the day). One of the challenges on this fire was forcible entry, The firemen had to either cut pad locks and force the roll up doors on the building which takes additional time and manpower. High combustible storage items in many of the units, with paper products, wood products, clothing as well as hazardous materials such as paints and oils ultimately added fuel to this commercial fire and created a more challenging scene.Â
Crews remained on scene throughout the night mopping up and monitoring any additional fire spread. Columbia Fire & Rescue also were assisted by Columbia River PUD, St. Helens Police Department, Columbia County Sheriff, Clatskanie Fire District and Scappoose Fire District. Their support and assistance in mitigating the fire was crucial during this difficult event. In total, there were 33 fire personnel on scene over the course of the time spent managing the fire. Police and fire remained on scene through Monday, March 14th to monitor the fire activity and provide additional assistance.Â
Columbia River Fire & Rescue stresses the importance of a sprinkler system that not only save lives, but they save property and contents as well. For more information on fire safety contact Columbia River Fire & Rescue.
