WASHOUGAL, Wash. — One person was injured, and multiple others displaced when a fire broke out at a small apartment building in Washougal early Thursday morning, according to fire officials. Several pets did not make it out alive.
Firefighters from multiple agencies were called out to 2221 Main Street in Washougal just before 4 a.m. Thursday. They arrived to find a house "fully involved" with flames, forcing fire crews to adopt a defensive stance.
According to Deputy Fire Marshal Randy Miller with the Camas-Washougal Fire Department, the building was a house that had been converted into two apartments — one on the main floor and one in the basement. By the time crews arrived, Miller said, the structure was too unstable for firefighters to go inside.
There were five people living on the main level, one of whom was taken to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center with burns that were not believed to be life-threatening. Another four people were living in the basement; all of them made it out unharmed, but Miller said that a few pets did not get out of the house alive.
The American Red Cross is helping to support the displaced residents for the time being.
Heat from the fire began to melt the siding on a larger apartment building nearby, so firefighters temporarily evacuated those five units. Miller said that eight cars were damaged by the flames, three of them considered destroyed.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined and is still under investigation.
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