Planes, hangars destroyed in Grove Field fire in Camas
By Emily Gillespie, The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
At least 12 hangars and several recreational planes were destroyed when a two-alarm fire ripped through a building at
Firefighters from
Arriving crews reported that explosions blew out hangar doors and knocked off the roof of the airport's
The 10,000-square-foot hangar is made of wood and sheet metal. There are fire walls on each end of the hangar, but only simple partitions separating the hangar bays within the building.
That, along with the fact that airplane fuel burns quickly, led to the fast-moving fire, Koehler said.
After about 20 minutes of suppression efforts, crews called a second alarm, asking for additional resources from the
The damage to the building and several Cessna-style recreational aircraft is estimated to be in the millions of dollars, said
Though at least 12 hangars in the building were destroyed, it is not yet known how many planes were among those lost. Some pilots had their planes with them at the time of the fire, Ripp said.
He scrambled to get to his neighbor, who had keys to a few of the hangars. Within minutes the fire was already fully involved, Mock said.
Mock said he and his neighbor began opening hangar bay doors and moved three airplanes, a Corvette and some other pieces of property farther away from the fire. Flames didn't end up spreading to the hangars they emptied.
"We weren't really thinking, we were just trying to get stuff out," he said. "I don't own a plane ... but this is their passion. This is really unfortunate."
Plane owners visited the ashes Tuesday morning, many arriving to find their planes reduced to an engine block. Some hangars housed antique cars, and the light of day showed their ashen frames hidden beneath parts of the burned hangar.
Her Cardinal 172 plane was just one hangar over from the scene of the fire.
"It's a little too close for comfort, I'll tell you," she said. "I need to go buy a lottery ticket."
While he heard about the fire Monday night, Spencer waited until daylight Tuesday to inspect the damage.
Spencer said that arriving, he "saw a heartbreak. I saw my retirement fun and games gone," he said. "God there's nothing there. ... I could carry it with my hand."
Spencer has owned his plane for about 12 years and said he would fly it when he could but "not nearly enough." With the sunny weather reaching 80 degrees Monday, Spencer took a flight to The Dalles to enjoy the clear skies.
"I haven't had a better day in years," he said. "I'll probably never fly again."
Even though his plane was insured, he said it would be too much work to start the hobby over again.
"I've been around aviation all my life and I've never seen a hangar go up like that," he said.
While the decades-old hangar that caught fire Monday undergoes fire-code inspections twice a year, Ripp said, it was not outfitted with sprinklers. Fuel storage is not allowed in the hangars, he said.
"These are some of the older hangars," Ripp said. "The newer ones are all steel so it probably would have gone a little differently."
The airport was closed Tuesday while investigators with the
"We're working with insurance adjusters for the tenants and the port," Ripp said. "Until the insurance investigation is finalized, the taxiway on the north side of B-Row hangars and the south side of C-Row hangars will be closed to traffic."
"It's being investigated as some kind of accident inside one of the leased hangars," she said.
Determining the exact cause, however, will likely take an aviation forensics expert, Anderson said. "The fire damage was so severe, it'd probably take forensic analysis to prove that something was a cause."
------
Columbian staff writers
___
(c)2014 The Columbian (Vancouver, Wash.)
Visit The Columbian (Vancouver, Wash.) at www.columbian.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
Wordcount: | 969 |
BlueCross BlueShield, Provision remain split on proton therapy
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News