1 person dies after two-alarm house fire in NE Portland

MULTNOMAH COUNTY, Ore. (KPTV) - One person has died following a two-alarm house fire early Friday morning.

Just after 3 a.m., firefighters responded to a house fire in the 17600 block of Northeast Couch Street. The 911 caller reported people may be trapped inside the burning home.

Portland Fire & Rescue crews were first to arrive on scene and found heavy fire showing from the front and back of the home. Gresham Fire crews then arrived soon after and immediately went inside the home to search for victims.

“We did a search of the building and located one victim and pulled him from the building,” Mike Traeger, Gresham Fire Battalion Chief, said.

The man pulled from the home was taken to an area hospital where he later died. The victim’s name has not yet been released.

Traeger says a couple lived in the home.

A second alarm was called to bring in additional resources to help battle the fire. There was a detached building with living quarters above it in the back of the property that also caught fire.

The cause of the fire has not been determined. Fire investigators are working to determine what started it and where it started.

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