Forest Grove and Cornelius Fire Departments

A pair of sleeping grandparents, and their six year old grandson barely escaped as a smoke filled their mobile home Wednesday evening. When firefighters from Forest Grove Fire & Rescue arrived to the home at the Grove Mobile Home Park, there was already dark grey smoke pumping from the windows and roof of the double wide mobile home. Fire crews quickly went to work, crawling into the front room of the mobile home and extinguishing the fire they found burning on a bunk bed. Within a matter of minutes the fire was brought under control with no injuries to residents or firefighters.

During the investigation into the cause of the fire, the grandson admitted that he had found a pack of matches in the home while his grandparents slept and he had crawled onto the top bunk and began to light the matches, dropping one onto his mattress. The young boy told investigators that the fire began to grow at which time he woke up his grandparents and they all escaped safely. Unfortunately three of the family cats,
and a number of pet birds did not survive the fire; one cat remains missing at this time. The home and it’s contents are considered a total loss, and the local Red Cross Chapter is working to provide assistance to the family during this difficult time.

This is the second fire in less then a month in the Grove Mobile Home Park, located at 3831 Pacific Avenue in the east part of Forest Grove. In both incidents firefighters found the homes to be without working smoke alarms. Working smoke alarms have been proven countless times to save lives, and the changing of the clocks this weekend is the perfect reminder to make sure your smoke alarms work and are less then 10 years old. When your testing your smoke alarms it’s also the perfect time to conduct a family fire drill. Firefighters also urge parents to secure their matches and lighters away from children, and if you fear that your children are involved with misusing fire please contact their local fire department about juvenile fire setter intervention programs. The Oregon Fire Service is recognized nationwide as a leader in youth fire setting prevention programs, and many departments have effective tools to make sure this dangerous behavior does not cause an incident like tonight's.