GRESHAM, Ore. — Two people were injured in a fire at a three-story apartment complex in Gresham, Monday morning. The fire broke out just after 11 a.m. at the Lumina Apartments in the 2700 block of West Powell Boulevard. When firefighters arrived, there was a significant amount of fire coming from the second floor of one of the buildings.
"I can’t give enough credit to the first arriving companies they made a heck of a stop on a large amount of fire," said Gresham Fire Captain Travis Soles.
According to Soles, one person fell from a second-floor stairway balcony after a railing gave way. A second person was injured while trying to catch them. The injuries occurred as people evacuated an adjoining building that was at risk of burning. The two were taken to a hospital, and Soles described their injuries as not life-threatening.
As residents at the complex began to notice the fire, many called 911 and some jumped in to help alert their neighbors.
"My first instinct was to try and get everybody out, like work together, like me and him," said Jacob Sochia, referring to neighbor Louis Policard.
"So we were knocking on the doors trying to get everyone out, it was just pretty hectic," said Policard.
"We don’t like to see people put themselves into harm's way. But it also warms your heart a little bit with humanity to see people trying to do what they could... it certainly helped us with our efforts," said Soles.
The 2-alarm fire called in dozens of firefighters from Gresham and Portland. Crews contained the fire to eight apartments and four additional units had smoke damage. Gresham Fire is investigating and believes the fire started on the second floor of the building.