PORTLAND, Ore. — A Portland family was displaced from their home on Northeast 81st and Oregon streets Thursday night after a barbecue fire jumped to the building, spreading through the apartment and into the adjoining units in the triplex.
After wrapping up on a large pallet fire less than five miles up the road, some of the Portland Fire & Rescue crews at the scene diverted their attention to the triplex fire, which was called in at around 9:15 p.m. on the Fourth of July.
"Everybody was yelling 'fire' and we were running out of the house, I was just kind of like in shock," said Justina Wilson, who lived in the home with her four children. "A lot of it was, like kind of surreal."
All five of them were able to get out of the house safely.
"It burned the roof of my whole unit, and then down the side of my neighbors as well. All three units were affected," she said.
Portland Fire determined that the cause of the blaze was a barbecue grill in the family's yard.
"It was one that you can put on a table," Wilson said. "It sort of got off-kilter, and then it knocked over lighter fluid, and a coal fell on it, and it sort of — like Final Destination — grew up into the door frame."
The signs of fire damage on the outside of the triplex pale in comparison to the destruction on the inside of the unit. Nearly all of the family's belongings are ruined beyond repair.
"Because the [the firefighters] had to open up the ceiling and pull down all the insulation to make sure that it didn't reignite, everything was coated with insulation," Wilson said. "And then they had to spray it down with water. So on top of that it was like everything was wet. I'm just trying to take it one step at a time."
In the wake of the fire, Wilson's sister set up a GoFundMe page, hoping donations will help the family as they start over from scratch.
Portland Fire shared emergency guidance from FEMA when it comes to staying safe while grilling in the summer.