Keeping Your Portland Home Safe

The City of Portland runs a Fire Blog to keep all of the Portland residents informed about fires in

the area, fire prevention methods and activities that the fire fighters are participating in.

Recently, there was a tragic apartment fire in which an individual passed away.

The Two Tragedies

The fire occurred in two apartments – one

located on the first story and the other located

right on top of the first apartment. When the

fire fighters arrived they were informed that

there were three people left inside of the

building.

As they aggressively fought the fire and

looked for those within the apartments, they

were able to save two of the individuals.

Tragically, there were not able to find the

third individual and when the fire was put out

the third individual had passed away inside.

The Portland Fire and rescue Chief, Erin Janssens, arrived at the scene after learning of the death

and expressed her sorrow for the family and the loved ones that had lost someone that they loved

in the fire that day.

The threat of fire in Portland is real and can be very dangerous. Understanding how to react,

should there be a fire in your home, may end up saving your life and teaching those in your

household may help them save their own lives if a fire should start in your home.

Understanding the Ways of Escape

Understanding two different ways to get out of the house, no matter what room you are in, is

very important. If you have children in the home, you will want to map out these exits with them

and run through a fire drill to ensure that they remember which exits they can take.

While you are discussing the different exits with the children, you will also want to have them

listen to the fire alarm. If they wake up in the middle of the night to the alarm, it is important

that they are going to recognize what the sound is and realize how to react.

Some people try to fight the fire in their home instead of getting out quickly. Fire damage in

Portland can be devastating, but it is important to realize that your safety is much more important

than any damage that can occur to your home or to your possessions.

You can rebuild after fire damage in Portland but losing a loved one is not something that you

can undo. Take time to meet with your household and plan a fire escape route and ensure that

everyone understands what to do and how to react in case there is a fire.

Avoiding a Tragedy

Tragedies occur on a consistent basis and even if you are fully prepared for a fire, you may not

be able to avoid a tragedy in your home. Doing all that you can to avoid the start of a fire and

react properly to a fire if one does start burning may not be enough.

Taking the dangers of fire seriously is very important. Learn and teach what you can do to make

your home a safer place.

Photo Credit: @mjb