**Update: Fire Investigators have determined the cause to be improperly discarded smoking material. Damage assessed at $32,500.

At 7:06pm Portland Fire & Rescue crews were dispatched to the scene of a residential house fire at 5346 SE Lexington Dr. Engine and Truck 25(Woodstock) were the first companies to arrive and found fire and smoke pouring from basement windows of the ranch style home. Engine 25 sent a crew to the basement with a hose line but extreme clutter made it difficult for them to navigate to the seat of the fire. Additional crews were sent to assist with the interior  fire attack effort but again the difficulty in movement around the cluttered entry ways and hallways hindered their effort to extinguish the fire from inside the basement. Because of the extreme dangers of basement fires the Incident Commander requested an additional engine company to act as a rescue team outside of the building in the case any firefighters became trapped. Once the PF&R crews were able to contain and extinguish the basement fire, the task of confirming the fire had not spread and preparation for fire inves
tigation began. Fire investigators are still working to find the ignition source of the fire. An update will be sent when the cause and damage assessment is made. There were no reported injuries.

Safety Message: PF&R would like to remind citizens to maintain clear entry and hallways. Keeping these areas clear is important for both residents and firefighters in the case of an emergency.

Contact info, for media use only:
Lt. Rich Chatman PIO, media pgr: 503-940-6003