House fire contained in Portola on January 8

Beckwourth Fire District (BFD) and Eastern Plumas Health Care (EPHC) were paged out for a possible structure fire at 355 Joy Way in Portola on the night of Saturday, January 8 at 11:44 p.m.  Beckwourth Fire District Captain Kurt Flewell was on scene within minutes of the page due to working in the area that night. Flewell made a “scene size-up” to dispatch over the phone, and mutual aid was requested from Eastern Plumas Rural Fire Protection District (EPRFPD) for an engine.

“Beckwourth Fires first engine on scene set-up incident command , which was referred to as Joy Command,” Flewell explained. “All units on scene were able to aggressively attack the fire with interior attack and coordinated ventilation of the building with aggressive firefighting, and we were able to contain the fire close to the area of origin.”

A request was made to Sierra Valley Fire for their air trailer unit and Liberty Utilities was requested to have power shut down at the line, not just at the service panel. An ambulance from EPHC was there to help provide a warm place for the residents and to assist with any medical needs on scene. Animal control was requested to assist with animals that were able to make it out of the building. Sadly, despite valiant efforts, first responders were not able to save all the animals. The cause of the fire is still undetermined, but Flewell reports that there are clues pointing towards an electrical issue.