As of 5 pm, streets in Corvallis are closed off on Jefferson from 4th to 6th Street, and on 5th Street from Monroe to Washington due to a large fire involving one multi-family residential building on Jefferson Street. Roads are expected to be closed until 7 pm tonight.
According to the public information officer Patrick Rollens, the building was residential and had ten occupants. All are believed to have made it out safely and none of the residents needed to be taken in an ambulance.
Local resident John Morris was one of the first citizens to see the fire.
“There was a lot of smoke and a lot of cars and we came up here and saw all the fire trucks. When they got up there, there were huge flames coming off the top of the building. They started spraying a lot of water on it and that didn’t seem to stop it, they started spraying this white flame retardant on it and that seemed to help a bit. Then they got back to spraying more water on it, and now there’s a bit of smoke,” said Morris.
Carmen Westfall, the fire information officer, confirmed that all ten residents made it out safely. Westfall could not speak to the cause of the fire at this time. She said crews had been fighting the fire since approximately 3:30, and they were expecting to be working until 6:30 or 7 pm. According to Westfall, fires of this magnitude only happen in Corvallis once or twice a year.
Fire crews will continue to make sure the fire is completely extinguished before they investigate the cause. Residents should expect streets to be closed until approximately 7 pm.
By Jonah Anderson
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