Fire started in the apartment of an incident involving an agitated person

At 5:19 p.m. Friday night, the Vancouver Fire Department responded to 3073 NE 57^th Ave. (Fox Pointe Apartments) for the report of an agitated person.  

Initially, only a single advanced life support fire engine responded along with the Vancouver Police Department and American Medical Response. However, while enroute reports started to come in that smoke was coming from the apartment where the disturbance was originally reported.  The dispatch was upgraded to a full structural response.  

Fire units staggered to give law enforcement time to assess the situation.  However, with the fire growing inside, the fire department had to enter the apartment building to help evacuate neighboring residents and control the fire all while the agitated person was still in their apartment.  

Once that was accomplished, fire crews stayed on scene while law enforcement continued to talk to the person of interest.  The Vancouver Fire Department was on scene for more than five hours.   

Information provided by Vancouver Fire Department