Flames flare up at 'hoarding' fire
»Play Video
PORTLAND, Ore. – Firefighters had to deal with clutter from a “hoarder” as they tried to put out a house fire on Thursday morning in North Portland.
On Friday morning, the flames flared back up and firefighters had to return to extinguish them.
When the fire first started on Thursday, firefighters found heavy smoke coming from the house on North Chautauqua. They entered the house, but quickly ran into the clutter, according to Portland Fire and Rescue spokesman Lt. Damon Simmons.
They navigated through “significant clutter” and despite near black-out conditions in the house, they found fire in the basement, main floor and in the attic.
"Close your eyes. That's what you can see in this fire," Simmons said. "It's smoke, it's hot and they're unable to locate the fire because of these conditions."
Since the clutter was dangerous to firefighters and because the house was vacant, commanders decided to pull firefighters out of the house and fight the flames from the outside, Simmons said.
Neighbors said the owner of the home died a few months ago and his or her possessions were left behind.
Nobody was injured in the fire. It’s not yet clear how it started and investigators will likely be on the scene through the day to determine the cause, Simmons said.
Simmons said hoarding can increase the likelihood of a fire starting when items come in contact with heat sources. Fires in hoarding houses are also often more severe because there are more combustible items.
He gave a KATU reporter a tour of the burned out house to demonstrate just how dangerous the situation was. Much of the floor was covered with junk and other items.
"You can see some of the insulation and things that have fallen down, but that level you see there, above the floor level, is solid cutter," Simmons explained. "They're crawling over this material and this material also creates a heavier fire load, which means there's more stuff to burn."
The clutter on the floor of this particular house was one to two feet deep.
"When we have to pull out of a fire like that the fire gets more extreme," Simmons said. "The material that's burning just keeps falling down on top of that, so they're having to dig through that just to find the origin of the fire."
If you need help dealing with a hoarding situation, Simmons said you can call 211 to find resources or call the mental health crisis line at (503) 988-4888.
I work in a locked mental health facility. We have some patients that were hoarders. Typically it starts with some great loss; the death of several people close to you, the death of a child, etc. They replace that loss by hoarding.
Â
I also have a neighbor that has mental health issues and is a hoarder (you can see black mold growing through the walls through the siding and to the exterior.Â
Â
Hoarding really is a mental health issue but if the person is reasonably cognitive, pays their bills, etc. there is little that can be done short of a commitment order. Even if you empty the house and clean it they quickly refill it to the previous disorder.
having grown up right by this house it used to be immaculate when the parents of the current owner lived there. he was a doctor and ran his practice out of this house. only within the last 6 years or so since the current owner moved in which we never saw this person at all maybe dealt with the loss of his parents by hoarding. This last summer I am assuming after the passing of the owner there were several family members cleaning up the yard and going through the house and removing some of its belongings. with that kind of mess it could take years to clean it all.
Â
It's a sad, sad situation. I've known many people who have recently lost loved ones, and those loved ones had lived in the same house for decades, and over all those decades all sorts of belongings have been purchased, and never purged because many people don't purge their belongings unless they are moving. I suppose that's where the phrase "moving sale" comes from. I feel bad for anyone who has to go through this, the death enough is horrible, the media attention on this is bad, and then some of the heartless comments on here is just salt in the wound.Â
Since the "hoarder" was gone, who owned the house? Was there a family that didn't know how to, or care to, clean it up, or did some bank or tax agency leave it empty? Â
Someone should've had time to call a cleanup service in the last several months.
as a close neighbor to this house and growing up in the neighborhood as well  i know the family was working on it. assuming they did not have the money to just call a service to clean it ...it would take a very long time to clean a mess like that.
 @EnoughAlready That or the estate was going through the probate process, and that could take years depending on how the deceased left their legal matters.
Hoarders is the wrong word. Pigs is better suited.Â
Â
If pigs want to live in a sewer, let them be. It's their house. Just mind your own business. What's next, government cameras inside privately owned houses to monitor for slobs?Â
family and friends should intervene when someone is living like this. Â shame on those who don't. Â as distasteful and annoying as it may be, this is mental illness and the hoarder can be helped. Â
Wow, so much judgement being passed by people who know nothing about the family or the situation. Hoarding is a terrible mental illness that TV shows have made into something to joke about. Maybe what is needed is more tolerance and understanding of the hoarders and the people who try desperately to help them. I am thankful no fire fighters were injured and hope the family, that has suffered so much loss, finds peace and healing.
 @ORBorn The only TV show I've seen about hoarders is called "Hoarders" and I've never seen them "joke" about anyone who is hoarding. They always have a Mental Health expert with the hoarder to help them through the process. Have you even seen the show? I'll admit sometimes the hoarder will make themselves look ridiculous, but that's the denial process of the recovery.
 @73challenger503 The show doesn't joke about it, but it has become something people joke about because of that show. When animal hoarders are caught everyone sees the suffering of the animals and it is a tragedy. When a person has this disorder and it is unmanageable out of control clutter, they go on TV for the whole world to see and comment on. I know many people who watch and think it is hilarious. I choose not to watch reality TV. I also don't go out of my way to slow down and gawk at train wrecks.
i am glad they were able to let this one burn knowing there wasnt anyone inside. hoarder homes are a fire waitin to happen.
Hoarders are people that have an insatiable desire to collect things. This person may or may not be a hoader but this house is a pig sty!
Now there is one for Discovery Channels "Hoarders" They need to show this Video.
I've been in a hoaders house before...it's frightening. Dishes piled up to the cabinet, trash bags piled up to the ceiling, piles of old news papers, mail and magazines with a small path to get room to room. I couldn't take it and went outside. I was amazed that place never burned down.
Smart move pulling out the firefighters. No structure is worth someone getting injured or killed.
Should have just let the house burn and used it as a training environment.
 @axpman I imagine that there's a good risk of the fire spreading to neighboring homes if they just let it burn. I'm thankful no one was injured fighting the fire, especially if it was intentionally set - which certainly seems plausible given the circumstances.
 @axpman Looks like that's what happened.
211 hoarder hotline number?
 @beaner Call A&E or whatever that show's on.
Â
Hoarding reminds me of women who have the "I'd Rather Be Shopping" license plate holders. Â Same mentality, just a different monetary value of the "stuff". Â Blech.
 @Sundowner Actually, it's not the "same mentality". Hoarding is a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder, and has its origins in the biochemistry of the brain. If someone shops to excess and cannot stop herself, this could be a form of ocd. But just enjoying shopping is not the same as hoarding at all.
 @felines99 Oh, OK.  You say hoarding is a form of OCD and then say excessive shopping is a form of OCD.  I see the difference you'd stuck my nose in, and I stand corrected.  Last word?
 @felines99 I consider always needing to get in the last word a form of OCD.  Knew I could count on you.  The more things change......
 @Sundowner I said that excess shopping CAN BE a form of ocd. But simply liking to shop and having an "I like to shop" license plate holder is not necessarily a mental illness. Hoarding, on the other hand, is a mental illness and is linked to brain chemistry.
@Sundowner I used to be married to one of those. She is another man's problem now.
Sounds like homeless moved in or a heater that's lowest setting is 50 degrees, kicked on. You'd think the family of the deceased would take care of this. Most likely came and took what they wanted and left the rest for someone else to deal with.
I don't often clean my house but when I do it's because I've been watching hoarders. Â Stay thirsty my friends.