Early Saturday morning, a fire with two alarms burned down a barn in Washington County. The brief appearance of Cornelius’s dedicated fire crew was key to stopping the fire from spreading to nearby buildings. With help from the Hillsboro Fire Department and Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue, firefighters put out a fire at the corner of Southwest Cook Street and Southwest 331st Avenue.
When a call for help came in around 7 a.m., the Cornelius Fire Department arrived quickly. They were surprised to see a barn that big, 75 feet by 150 feet, totally on fire. The Hillsboro Fire Department and Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue were sent to the scene after an extra alarm was set off because the situation was so dangerous.
We are starting to return some units, but the large bales of straw are going to continue to burn for several hours. There’s no longer a threat of the fire spreading to additional barns. https://t.co/wIo0U0RJwY pic.twitter.com/gCNxl4r1bv
— Cornelius FD(Oregon) (@CorneliusFire) June 17, 2023
Many things were in their way as the firefighters tried to put out the fire. Water trucks were sent to help extinguish the fire because the barn was so big. We had to take other steps to ensure enough water because the next fire stopper was more than a mile away. Even with these setbacks, the heroic work of the firefighting teams stopped the fire from spreading to other buildings.
The barn where a lot of hay was burned down, which was sad. The building was destroyed because the heat from the fire made the roof collapse. The main thing kept in the barn was hay bales weighing about 1,200 pounds. Firefighters warned that these bales could stay on fire for days and must be watched constantly. Firefighters remained at the fire scene until late Saturday night, working hard to put out any embers that were still burning.
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The fire burned down more than just the barn. Inside the building, a combine, a hay stacker, and two trucks died terribly. A single family’s small farm had a lot of damage done to it. The farm owner quickly opened the gates to save some cows from the fire. No one or anything got hurt in this accident, which is good.
Authorities are looking into where the fire started to learn more about this sad event. As the community mourns the death, it will unite to support the family through this hard time. The fire and rescue teams’ strength and teamwork are a tribute to how hard they worked to save lives and property.
