breaking news

"Oregon domestic partnership law halted."

Activist judges: Quite useful if they listen to your baloney-logic.

These people's joy is causing me so much harm!

911 got a call at 11:37 Tuesday morning from a neighbor driving by; the house on the on the corner of 8th and Pleasant Street was on fire. By shortly after noon, most of the duplex was destroyed.

The occupants are all believed safe, including a young man reported to be upstairs showering when the fire broke out. There are no reported injuries. There were 6-8 people living in the rented duplex, including two people neighbors said to were living in the garage. None apparently had renters’ insurance.

Jenny Johnson, was at home when the fire broke out. "There was an explosion," she said, "this loud pop."

She looked at her clock and realized the power was out. Looking out the window, she saw smoke billowing through the yards. She grabbed her dog and ran when she heard the fire department outside yelling "Get out! Get out!"

The fire department, which responded with five fire trucks, including 2 ladder trucks, three ambulances and three of their chief officials, had stopped the spread of the blaze by 12:30. The house continued to flare up until almost 2 pm, but no longer appeared to be in danger of spreading.

It was too early to tell the cause of the fire said Deputy Chief Marc Walker. Neighbors say they thought it started at the back of the building. According to Walker it will be several days before anything will be known. The building is unstable and first must be pulled down, then investigators will go through the debris pile.

This is the same house that was profiled this summer on local news station KMTR. Neighbors were complaining people were living out of cars in front of the building and local officials were not responding to the complaints, they allege.

Next door neighbor Leslee Berg was able to get her three dogs and her cat out safely when the wall of her house caught fire as well. The blaze was quickly put out, damaging only the living room. The fire department moved artwork and other belongings away from the wall that burned, saving them from damage. The family expects to be able to move back in shortly, and their insurance company who was on the scene, provided them with a hotel room.

The renters in the burned duplex had no insurance. Everything they owned, including a car and a pickup truck parked outside, was destroyed. The tires on the car and truck melted into the driveway from the heat of the blaze.

The American Red Cross was on the scene providing food, clothing and a place to stay for those who had immediate needs. Karen Smith, Red Cross director of emergency services director for the area, said she will meet with those who lived in the duplex tomorrow to talk about what to do next, and possibly provide first month’s rent.

She cautioned other renters to get make sure to get insured. Everything in the house and the cars would have been covered she said.

At 9 pm Monday night, work crews digging through concrete on the northeast corner of the intersection of 16 Ave and High Street accidentally penetrated a high-pressure natural gas line.

The residential neighborhood surrounding the area was closed off and all homes and apartments in the area were evacuated in a one block in all directions.

The gas escaped in a plume “straight up” into the air, said Mark Grover, the Eugene Fire Department’s senior advisor at the incident. The lack of wind reduced the danger of the incident, according to Grover.

If the wind was blowing there was a chance the gas could be blown towards a house, collect under the eaves and accumulate in the attic he said. A spark could then ignite the gas in an explosion or a fire.

Crews were also monitoring gas beneath the concrete. Had the gas plume not gone straight up, there was also the danger that the gas would creep under the surface of the road along the gas line and accumulate there.

At 10:45 pm, the odor of mercaptan (the chemical added to natural gas to give it the “rotten egg smell”) still lingered in the air, evidence the gas was still present, although the leak itself had been capped. Witnesses said as the gas escaped the high pressure created a loud hissing sound, audible even from behind the area cordoned off by the fire department.

Six fire department units were called to the scene as well as Northwest Natural who is responsible for the gas line.

Grover did not yet know how work crews came to damage the gas line. He said the gasline may have been buried shallower than expected – 5 –7 inches rather than 18.

Residents were allowed, one by one, back into their homes starting shortly after 11 pm.