Blaze burns home, land
Fire destroyed a home and spread into nearby wildland Sunday evening, June 14, on upper Wiley Creek Drive, according to the Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District.
According to SHFAD, occupants of the single-family residence discovered the fire in their garage at 44117 Wiley Creek Drive, and called 911 at 7:11 a.m.
Fourteen minutes earlier, a flue fire had been reported in Cascadia, so one engine crew on their way to respond to that incident were diverted to the Wiley Creek fire.
Wildland Division Chief Christian Whitfield, who was off-duty, responded with the engine, arriving first and establishing incident command.
Residents of the triple-wide manufactured home had evacuated with their pets when firefighters arrived. According to county records, the property is owned by Robert and Kathryn Pettit.
Whitfield said the garage was “fully involved” and the home was beginning to burn when he arrived, and the fire was moving into the pump house..
“The homeowner was trying to spray water, but he was losing pressure, so it wasn’t working,” Whitfield said.
Two vehicles were also fully involved and fire spreading into the wildland surrounding the home, a SHFAD news statement said.
The 93-degree temperatures and low humidity, coupled with high winds, a lack of immediate water supply, and void spaces in the structure, were all factors in making the fire exceptionally challenging to fight, SHFAD said.
“The biggest challenge was just the weather in general,” Chief Nick Tyler said, adding that the heat took its toll on the firefighters, he said.
“It took longer for them to rehab, to be able to re-engage with the fire.”
Whitfield immediately requested a second alarm for personnel, engines, and water tenders, as well as a response from the Oregon Department of Forestry for the wildland exposure.
That rural area on Wiley Creek Drive is well beyond the reach of hydrants, which further complicated the situation, Tyler said.
“We had trouble getting enough water, getting enough firefighters,” he said.
Tyler said the way the home was constructed, with “void spaces” in the structure – empty area within the building’s design – caused the roof to start collapsing, so firefighters had to get out of the house and battle the blaze from the outside by cutting through the siding.
Firefighters battled the blaze for over an hour; then Whitfield requested a third alarm.
The three alarms brought firefighters and apparatus from nearly every agency in Linn County, and one from Lane County.
ODF arrived quickly, Tyler said, just as the fire was beginning to enter standing grass after burning approximately a quarter-acre of mowed area.
“That was a testament to the relationship we have with ODF,” he said. “They were already en route. That grass fire had left cut grass and had gotten into standing grass right when ODF got there with a 1,000-gallon engine and crew.
“It really was a benefit to the local area that ODF was able to get that engine on the scene really fast.”
A total of 54 firefighters, seven engines, eight water tenders, two ambulances, two brush trucks, and four chief officers responded to the scene from Sweet Home, Lebanon, Brownsville, Halsey, Harrisburg, Tangent, Albany, and Mohawk Valley fire departments and ODF.
Whitfield said some of the respondents came from his wildland crew, who were off-duty but most of whom live locally.
“”One of them lives in Cottage Grove and one in Salem, and both of them responded,” he noted. “We had a fantastic response.”
An additional ambulance from Lebanon also provided coverage to the district and transported a firefighter to the hospital during the incident. Firefighters remained on scene throughout the night working to make sure the fire was completely extinguished.
SHFAD was also assisted by the Linn County Sheriff’s Office who provided traffic control, as the fire drew many onlookers, and Pacific Power, which removed the utility hazards.
The firefighter who was transported from the scene to a local hospital was in stable condition Monday, SHFAD reported. No other injuries were reported.
The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Office. Tyler said Monday he had not yet heard results.
“It was a tough one, for sure,” Tyler said. “We’re lucky to have good relationships, good partners to help. It was definitely warranted; we definitely needed the help.”