Wilsonville Spokesman Online

Arson suspected in mid-morning apartment fire

Two families rescued from third-floor apartment

• By: Michelle Te  
• Published: 11/4/2009 12:29:00 PM
• Last Updated: 11/4/2009 1:08:28 PM

Apartment fire
A third-floor apartment fire displaced two Wilsonville families this morning.

Investigators suspect a mid-morning fire in Wilsonville that displaced two families was set intentionally.

The two-alarm fire, dispatched to 7925 S.W. Vlahos Drive, involved two third-floor apartments, where responders from Station 52 used a 24-foot ladder to rescue three parents, a young child and an infant.

“It was close,” said Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue’s Lt. Doug Napoli. “It was a very hot fire, the pressure of the smoke was coming fast. Our hearts were racing.”

One father handed his young child across his balcony to the neighboring apartment, where firefighters safely rescued him. The father then jumped down to the next floor.

A mother, father and infant also were rescued. Firefighters then went inside the apartment to be sure there were no other victims.

“He said, ‘Take my child first,’” reported Jason Hachmuth, a firefighter with Station 52. “We rescued the children first.”

All victims were then escorted inside the main office and were not available for comment.

“Fortunately, no one was hurt,” Napoli said. “As a father, my blood pressure goes up in this kind of situation. Our crew did a great job of performing a safe rescue.”

Crews from Tualatin, Mountain Road and Lake Oswego also were dispatched to the fire, which blackened the stairwell and completely ravaged a family’s apartment.

Hachmuth emphasized the importance of having a four-person crew to attack the fire and rescue the victims.

Jared Whitney, who also assisted in the rescue, said the family was “hunkered down, with hot, black smoke over their heads.”

Genaro Esparza was the fourth person on the Station 52 crew.

Clackamas County Sheriff’s Sgt. Sean Collinson said this is the fourth fire in the past few weeks at the Sundial Apartments. All fires have been set in the same building, but others were put out quickly.

Both the sheriff’s office and Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue are investigating.

Sue Bottger, who lives in a nearby building, said she was home getting ready for the day when she heard the fire trucks arriving. She walked across the courtyard to see huge flames leaping from the passageway of the third floor near Unit 524.

“I used to live in that building,” she said. “I called some of my old neighbors, in case they had pets inside.”

Bottger said that building was the same one where the other fires had been set and she questioned whether someone was being targeted.

Collinson said that avenue is being explored.

“Whoever it is, they’re pretty savvy,” Bottger said.

Sundial apartment managers sent out notices to all residents concerning the fires, asking them to report any suspicious activity.

Bryan Hart, who lives near Bottger, said his high school-aged daughter had missed the bus and was waiting outside when she saw the fire activity. She told her father that a couple was out on the balcony and that she ran over and started up the stairs to save them.

  (log in to rate)

Related Articles