Cluttered house ignites, makes firefighting difficult

PORTLAND, Ore. - Flames ripped through a home in southeast Portland Monday afternoon, and firefighters say they had a hard time checking for anyone inside because of the amount of stuff packed into the house.

The fire broke out around 2:15 p.m. at a home in the 4000 block of Southeast Center Street.  Flames shot out of the roof and smoke could be seen from quite a distance away.

When fire crews arrived, they tried to get inside the home to see if anyone was there, but they had some trouble in their search because they found the house full of clutter.

"There were pathways through each of the rooms that was about waist-high - newspapers, t-shirts, magazines," said Lt. Allen Oswalt with the Portland Fire Bureau.  "And you just had these pathways to get through the rooms.  The doors that would open off the rooms were blocked with waist-high storage of things, so it made it really difficult.  Plus all that adds to the fire load - it's all paper and it burns really easily.  We didn't even get a primary search done for about 45 minutes, which is not the way we like to do it."

Firefighters did not find anyone inside the home once they were able to complete their search.  An elderly couple reportedly lives there, and it appears they were not home at the time.