TIDEWATER – A house on the south side of the Alsea River accessible only by boat was destroyed by fire Thursday afternoon after firefighters from three agencies were unable to get to it quickly.
No one was hurt in the fire, which was first reported at 3:40 p.m.
The home was used by Jack Talbot, who served as a caretaker of the property and who was away at the time, fire officials said. Talbot accessed the house by keeping a boat on the north side of the river and then using it to get to the property’s boat house on the south side.
Central Oregon Coast Fire & Rescue Chief Jamie Mason said Friday that the exact cause of the fire has not been determined, but that it was not suspicious and most likely an electrical or heating issue.
Two engines from COCF&R, one from Yachats Rural Fire Protection District, a tender from Seal Rock and brush rigs from Central Coast and Yachats responded to the blaze. Personnel and equipment from the Newport Fire Department came to Waldport to deal with any issues while firefighters from the three local agencies were at the house fire.
Mason said that dispatchers told firefighters that the blaze was at milepost 9 of Highway 34, but that was all. Firefighters tried to access the house from Canal Creek and Alder Springs road, but those ended a half-mile short of the property.
The first firefighters reached the house after a homeowner on Little Albany Loop ferried personnel and equipment across the river, Mason said. Central Coast then brought its water rescue boat – normally used in Alsea Bay – from Waldport and launched it at Happy Landing, which was three miles downstream.
The fire was reported by residents across the river who saw flames shooting through the windows, Mason said. By the time responders got across the river and set up the house was engulfed in flames. Firefighters were also limited to using two attack lines from a floating pump, he said.
“We had a really good response, but we just couldn’t get across the river quickly,” Mason said. “If we could have gotten one of our engines to it we could have had the fire knocked down pretty quickly.”
Firefighters left the scene at 8:30 p.m., five hours after they first responded. Mason and others were back Friday afternoon to check the scene and help pin down the cause.
— Quinton Smith/YachatsNews