RV and house destroyed in separate fires
Published 8:50 am Tuesday, December 6, 2016
- Umatilla County Fire District 1 put out an RV fire at Pioneer RV Park in Hermiston on Monday afternoon.
Two fires in two days kept the Umatilla County Fire District 1 busy at the start of the week.
No one was injured in either fire, and a pair of dogs were rescued by firefighters.
On Sunday afternoon, fire crews responded to a house fire in the 1300 block of Southwest 16th Street in Hermiston. The house served as the home of Roxanne Poulin Holcomb and Richard Holcomb but was also the site of Sandy’s Home, an adult day care facility started in 2013 to give short breaks to caregivers of elderly or disabled adults.
Debra Poulin-Foster, who owned the house and ran Sandy’s Home with her daughter Roxanne, said the building was a total loss.
“The whole roof is collapsed in on the back end of the house,” she said.
She said her daughter and son-in-law were out shopping when a neighbor called 9-1-1 to report the house was on fire and then called her husband. He called her, and she immediately called her daughter to see if they had taken their two Jack Russell terrier mixes with them when they went out.
“I didn’t have time to be tactful, because I was worried about the dogs,” she said. “I called and said, ‘Your house is on fire; do you have the dogs?’”
The answer was no. The family arrived at the burning house, fearing the worst about the beloved family pets. But firefighters emerged from the home with the dogs in hand and deposited them into the arms of their overjoyed owners.
“Everyone was crying,” Poulin-Foster said.
She said they weren’t sure what had caused the fire, but it left the Holcombs with nothing but the clothes they had been wearing when they went to the store. They are currently living with Poulin-Foster and she said while they have appreciated offers of new furniture and household goods they won’t have room to store the bigger items for at least a few days until they find a new place to live.
Pauline-Foster said family friend Roxann Fisk has set up an online account for monetary donations at www.gofundme.com/richard-and-roxanne-needs-our-help. If people have clothing, household goods, food or other items they are interested in donating to the family they can email roxiracoon@gmail.com.
She said the whole family is extremely grateful for the support they have received from family, friends and community members and want to show their thanks for the fire and police departments, which have been doing extra patrols around the house to make sure people don’t try to trespass.
“The community outpouring has been phenomenal,” she said. “The police and fire department were amazing. They did everything they could as fast as they could.”
Umatilla County Fire District 1 also responded to a second structure fire on Monday shortly before 1 p.m. at Pioneer RV Park, 1590 W. Highland Avenue in Hermiston.
The RV was fully engulfed when fire crews arrived.
The owner, who was staying at the park temporarily, was inside the RV at the time of the fire but escaped uninjured before the fire trucks arrived.
A cause has not been determined.
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Contact Jade McDowell at 541-564-4536.