By James Oeder, Fire Chief Nestucca RFPD
On the morning of May 23rd at approximately 03:03 am, Nestucca Fire District was notified of a structure fire on Airport Way in Pacific City. The first arriving units found a residence fully involved. The incident was upgraded to a 3rd alarm to bring more resources to the scene and for coverage of the District. Two structures sustained moderate to heavy damage, and a third one was a total loss. We received reports that two of the homes were unoccupied at the time and the third residence was unknown if anyone was home. During operations, a victim was seen inside the third residence that had not made it out. Notifications to family members were made by Tillamook County Sheriff’s office and their Chaplain.
We would like to thank the following agencies for their assistance on this scene: North Lincoln Fire, Netarts Oceanside, Tillamook Fire, Tillamook Sheriffs, Oregon State Fire Marshall office, Bay City Fire, Tillamook Ambulance, and Garibaldi Fire.
Other members of the Airport Way community were evacuated by Tillamook Sheriff’s just after 3am. The little community is devastated as many of have been here for 30 plus years and look out for one another. A HUGE Thank You to Nestucca Fire and Rescue, Tillamook Sherriff’s Department who were on the scene within a few minutes after the initial call and without a doubt saved many more houses on the street. Also thank you to the first responders all the way from Lincoln City to Garibaldi.
The community is asking that people respect their privacy as they process this devastating loss of a friend and neighbor.