Fire damages Vancouver home, displacing nine

Seven puppies died in a fire at a two-bedroom home Saturday in downtown Vancouver’s Hough neighborhood. Nine uninjured residents and nine other pets were displaced.

Firefighters responded at about 12:15 p.m. to the fire at 900 W. 16th St. Black smoke was pouring out of the window, said Vancouver firefighter and paramedic Darrin Deming, so that’s where firefighting was initially focused. However, residents told emergency responders there might be someone still in the basement; firefighters entered the smoke-filled house and found no one, Deming said.

As smoke poured out of the house and onto 16th Street, residents and neighbors watched as 23 firefighters shut down the fire in about 30 minutes, according to reports.

The residents were joined on the street by seven adult dogs, a bird in a large cage and a cat who was resuscitated by a firefighter using an oxygen tank.

Other details, such as the fire’s cause and a damage estimate, were not immediately available.

The owner of the home, listed in county records as Jerry Hall, was sitting in a vehicle as the emergency response was ongoing. He said he and other residents were able to get out of the house right away. The man said he has owned the house since the 1960s. Other residents, who appeared shaken, declined to comment.

An investigation was underway late Saturday afternoon, but there was no update on the investigation Saturday evening from the Vancouver fire marshal.