Another Clutter-Fueled Fire Prompts Warning From Firefighters

Less than a week after a man's unnecessary death led the Portland Fire and Rescue Bureau to warn of the dangers of compulsive hoarding, firefighters across state line in Clark County put out a similar call.

Clark County Fire District 6 Tuesday night responded to a two-alarm house fire fueled by clutter "that made fighting and investigating it difficult." Four people—two children and their grandparents—were inside. All escaped uninjured.

The cause of the fire (pictured) is unknown, fire officials said in a press release. It is clear that, to firefighters and rescue crews, hoarding is not, as many see it, a subject of idle entertainment or a joke:

WWeek 2015

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.