Firefighters have tough time battling blaze in home packed with clutter

[dwportl...@gmail.com]

Good reason to get the clutter cleaned out!.......

Portland Oregon - Monday, April 14, 2008

http://www.katu.com/news/17678414.html

Firefighters have tough time battling blaze in home packed with
clutter

By Anita Kissee and KATU Web Staff

PORTLAND, Ore. - Flames ripped through a home in southeast Portland
Monday afternoon and firefighters say they had a hard time checking
for anyone inside because of the amount of stuff packed into the
house.

The fire broke out around 2:15 p.m. at a home in the 4000 block of
Southeast Center Street. Flames shot out of the roof and smoke could
be seen from quite a distance away.

When fire crews arrived, they tried to get inside the home to see if
anyone was there, but they had some trouble in their search because
they found the house full of clutter.

"There were pathways through each of the rooms that was about waist-
high - newspapers, t-shirts, magazines," said Lt. Allen Oswalt with
the Portland Fire Bureau. "And you just had these pathways to get
through the rooms. The doors that would open off the rooms were
blocked with waist-high storage of things, so it made it really
difficult. Plus all that adds to the fire load - it's all paper and
it burns really easily. We didn't even get a primary search done for
about 45 minutes, which is not the way we like to do it."

Firefighters did not find anyone inside the home once they were able
to complete their search. An elderly couple reportedly lives there
and it appears they were not home at the time.

(later news posts confirmed no one was in the house when the fire
broke out; there were no injuries)

[Don Aslett/Marsh Creek Press]

Thank you for the heads up on this. I am afraid that these things
happen all to often because people don't know how to effectively do
away with the junk, litter, and clutter that builds and builds until
it ultimately takes over your life. Not a week goes by that aslett-
ites out there don't mail/email news stories or clippings describing
similar tragedies. It is events like this however, that reinforce my
message and show the importance of staying on top of our messes before
they are on top of us!

Good Cleaning!
Don Aslett