PORTLAND, Ore. — A woman and a dog were rescued from inside a burning home in Southeast Portland's Montavilla neighborhood on Tuesday morning, Portland Fire and Rescue reported.
The fire started shortly before 11 a.m. in the area of Southeast 84th Avenue and Alder Street. Some blackberry bushes outside the home caught on fire, officials said, though it wasn't clear how the bushes caught on fire. The flames then started to creep inside the house. A woman inside the home took her dog, went into a bathroom in the basement and closed the door to escape the fire and smoke.
A police officer arrived first, tried to go inside and get the woman out, but couldn't due to the heat and smoke. Another resident of the home also tried but couldn't get to the woman.
Portland Fire arrived and within 10 minutes, a firefighter was able to reach the woman and called for a mobile air pack so she could breathe. By that point, the agency said, "heavy fire" had already reached the basement. The firefighter was then able to guide the woman through the flames, her dog in her arms, and head up through the stairs and out of the burning house.
PF&R said that paramedics evaluated the woman at the scene before taking her and the resident who'd tried to run in after her to the hospital. The dog was safe and healthy after the rescue, but PF&R said they received a report that a cat did not survive.
In all, six people were displaced by the fire, and PF&R said the Red Cross responded to assist them.
After the rescue, fire crews were able to focus on extinguishing the fire, which had spread to the attic and first level of the home — largely extinguishing it over the next 5-10 minutes.
Fire officials said it's incidents like this that they train for.
"This is what we do. It's always going to be a challenge," said Rick Graves, public information officer for Portland Fire and Rescue. "You have emotional family members scene-side ramping things up. But we all got it done."
Fire crews worked with investigators on-scene to help find the cause of the fire at the area of origin, but no cause has yet been determined.