A Wednesday afternoon house fire in Vancouver’s North Image neighborhood took firefighters more than an hour to get under control. The blaze displaced five adults and two children living in the home, a rental split into two units.
The fire at 6406 N.E. 137th Ave. was reported just before 2 p.m. as a garage fire. Plumes of black smoke could be seen by motorists on Interstate 205. When Vancouver firefighters arrived, flames were showing from the garage area and working their way into the attic, said Capt. Scott Willis. All of the residents were outside, uninjured.
The older, L-shaped house with an overhang posed a lot of problems to firefighters, he said. As the fire made its way to the attic, the plywood ceiling made it difficult for firefighters to access the attic space. Most ceilings in modern homes are made of sheetrock.
The home also had a second roof built on top of an older one that eventually sagged, making it dangerous for firefighters to attack the blaze from above. It took 70 minutes to get the fire under control. During that time, traffic was blocked on Northeast 137th Avenue.
