Ten residents of a Camas senior living facility were displaced after the building was destroyed in a fire Tuesday morning.
East County Fire and Rescue responded at about 4 a.m. to Ireland Greens Adult Family Home, 30400 N.E. Ireland Road, north of Camas. Crews were initially told there was a fire on the back porch of the house, according to Chief Ed Hartin.
When firefighters arrived, there was significant fire at the back of the building that had spread inside and into the attic, Hartin said. The owner of the facility told crews all of the residents evacuated safely.
There were no fire hydrants nearby, and the building was down a long, narrow driveway, Hartin said, so crews stretched 1,000 feet of hose line to the house and called for more water tenders to respond.
Eventually, the building became unstable and firefighters prioritized keeping the fire from spreading. The facility is no longer habitable, Hartin said. As of noon, crews were still on scene.
No one was injured, and the Red Cross responded to help the displaced residents.
“The staff did a great job of getting them out,” Hartin said. “And it was a busy night in our area because we had just come from a working fire in Washougal, not two hours before this, and our companies had just gotten back and got into service. In fact, the Camas-Washougal Fire Department units were still on the other call, so we ended up with four engines from Vancouver.”
The Vancouver Fire Department, Clark County Fire District 3 and Skamania County Fire District 4 also responded to assist.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Becca Robbins: 360-735-4522; becca.robbins@columbian.com; @brobbinsuo
