Firefighters credit sprinkler system for snuffing Happy Valley-area apartment fire

Firefighters are crediting a residential sprinkler system for putting out a two-alarm fire that displaced tenants in three apartments west of Happy Valley late Wednesday.

Brandon Paxton, Clackamas Fire District 1 spokesman, said the sprinklers in the Town Center Station Apartments, 8719 S.E. Monterey Ave., worked so well that the fire already was out when firefighters arrived after receiving a 10:22 p.m. 9-1-1 call. Crews immediately evacuated nearby apartments and then performed salvage and overhaul to reduce damage to the building's contents while removing dangerous smoke and gases from the building.

No injuries were reported.

Paxton said the fire was contained to one apartment, but easily could have spread to other units if the sprinkler system hadn't controlled it.

He said cause of the blaze will go into the books as "accidental." He said investigators determined that one resident accidentally bumped into the knobs of a kitchen range, which turned it on and lit combustibles left on the stove top.

"The lesson here is not to leave any combustible materials on your stove," Paxton said.

A damage estimate is not yet available.

The Oregon Red Cross is providing temporary shelter the residents displaced by the fire. A disaster action team is providing immediate emergency assistance for food, as well as comfort kits and information on disaster health and disaster mental health services.

-- Rick Bella

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Firefighters credit sprinkler system for snuffing Happy Valley-area apartment fire