Two floating homes were destroyed – and a floating home under construction was damaged – in a fire that swept through a small community along the Columbia River early Friday morning, Portland Fire & Rescue said.
Two people in a nearby home threatened by the blaze were awakened by firefighters and taken to safety, Portland officials said in a statement. There were no injuries.
The fire broke out shortly before 4 a.m. at the Pier West Floating Home Community in the 1500 block of North Marine Drive, south of Hayden Island, according to fire officials.
Firefighters arrived to find “residents of the homes dipping buckets into the river and tossing onto flames in an attempt at extinguishing the fire,” Portland Fire & Rescue said in a statement.
Two homes were engulfed in flames, and “the significant body of fire from the two homes had so much heat radiating off [them] that a home under construction 50 feet away was charred on the face closest to the fire,” officials said.
Fire officials said the distant location of hydrants made fighting the blaze challenging. A fire boat helped to douse the flames.
The fire was extinguished about 20 minutes after firefighters arrived.
Portland Airport Fire & Rescue and Vancouver Fire assisted Portland Fire & Rescue in the response.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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