Arborvitae fire threatened a commercial structure that housed a chiropractic office and a Christian counseling center
Crews from the Vancouver Fire Department (VFD) responded to a commercial fire Sunday evening in Vancouver.
On Sunday (Sept. 12) at about 8:15 p.m., four fire engines, a ladder truck and a battalion chief were dispatched to a possible house fire at 11101 NE 14th Street.
When the first fire crew arrived, firefighters found an arborvitae fire that was threatening a medium-sized commercial structure that housed a chiropractic office and A New Life Christian Counseling center. As the firefighters started extinguishing the fire, they observed smoke from the vents in the crawl space as well as from the roof.
The fire had burned through the plastic vents in the foundation and made its way into the crawl space. Crews made their way to the inside of the building to find heavy smoke conditions and it was at this time, a second alarm was called by command.
Firefighters had to cut a hole in the floor on the inside of the building to gain access to the fire. At the same time, the ladder truck raised its ladder to the roof to find embers that had caught pine needles on fire. Firefighters were able to quickly douse the fire on the roof as others searched for the fire in the crawl space.
The fire was determined to be under control at 9:15 p.m. and there were 20 firefighters on scene. There were no reported injuries and the Vancouver Fire Marshal’s Office is currently investigating the cause.
Information provided by Vancouver Fire Department.
