Fire Officials Conclude Edgmont Fire Investigation

In the days since the fire at the Edgemont Apartments on January 5th, the local fire officials have conducted an investigation into the fire.  According to Portland Area Fire Authority (PAFA) Chief Tim Krizov, they determined that the fire started in the attic space of the apartment building.  Like most buildings, the attic space does not have smoke detectors and so the fire progressed quite far before smoke was noticeable in the living space of the building.  As an older building, Krizov says, the Edgmond Apartment did not have a fire suppression system. 

As previously reported, Portland Police Department (PPD) officer Chris Walker was the first responder on the scene.  While smoke had entered the living space of the building by the time Officer Walker arrived, the smoke alarms had not activated and so he manually pulled a alarm and started evacuating residents.  Around the same time, Portland Department of Public Works (DPW) staffer Ryan Honsowitz noticed smoke while driving by and the two men started knocking on doors and getting residents out.  By the time firefighters arrived the two had evacuated 21 residents. “... heavy fire had come through the ceiling in [the] front entrance and heavy smoke filled the building,” as the two men evacuated residents, says Krizov. 

When the fire department arrived they searched the building from the outside and found one resident still in the building.  PAFD Lt. Jake Schafer evacuated the resident by breaking through an exterior sliding patio door.  “In all, those three possibly saved 22 lives,” Chief Krizof said, “pretty heroic.” 

The reason for the fire alarms not activating is unknown.  Chief Krizov says that the investigation has concluded with no determination of the cause of the fire.

PHOTO: Portland Area Fire Authority