Fire Badly Damages Hillsboro Apartment Building

Hillsboro, Ore. — A fire at an apartment building in Hillsboro had firefighters and emergency responders rushing to the scene on Sunday evening. Several 911 calls reported a fire on the outside of the building at 1049 SE Walnut Street. The call was quickly upgraded to a first alarm, prompting multiple fire departments, including Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue and Cornelius Fire Department, to respond to the emergency. Calls reporting the fire came from as far away as S. First Avenue.

Firefighters arrived within two minutes of receiving the call and began to extinguish the flames. Hillsboro Police officers assisted by evacuating residents from the building, including those from a neighboring motel as a precaution. All residents were confirmed to have evacuated safely, and no injuries were reported.

Once the fire was under control, firefighters thoroughly searched for and extinguished hot spots in the building’s attic. The fire did not spread to the neighboring Dunes Motel, and no impact was reported. The cause of the fire is still unknown, and an investigation is ongoing.

Hillsboro Public Safety Chaplains and the American Red Cross were on site to assist the eight adults, three children, and a cat displaced from the two apartment units. Hillsboro Fire & Rescue was assisted by several departments and crews from Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue to staff their fire stations during the incident.