Beaverton, Or. – An early morning fire destroyed a fourplex on SW 17th Street and Erickson. Eleven people were displaced and are getting help from the Red Cross to find  someplace else to stay.

The fire fight took place during a lightening storm. Captain Tim Nokes with Tualitan Valley Fire and Rescue says as a precaution, they took down their aerial ladders they had been using to fight the fire from above.

He says the staircase was the only way for people on the second floor to get out and the stairwell was on fire. He says “if this fire had been just a couple more minutes before it was discovered, we probably would have had several people trapped upstairs.”

A fire investigator is working to determine the cause of the fire.

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