EUGENE, Ore. (KMTR) – Eugene firefighters say smoke detectors played a big part in getting victims of a house fire to safety Sunday morning.
The fire started just after 4:00a.m. near East 17th Avenue and Patterson Street. When crews arrived, all three residents were outside, unhurt. Firefighters say two men were asleep in the living room when the smoke alarms went off. They were able to get out through a back door. When they realized their other roommate was trapped in a front bedroom, the roommates told firefighters that they broke a window and pulled him to safety.
A few neighbors gathered at the scene. University of Oregon junior, Andrew Seng, says his neighbor alerted him of the fire.
“I woke up at 4:40 to my neighbor banging on my door, saying, 'Yo! There's somethin' happenin'!' So, I woke up immediately, jolted up, and I heard trucks and a lot of commotion outside. I looked outside into the alley, and I saw a bunch of lights,” says Seng. He said at first, when he saw the front of the house fully engulfed in flames, he was worried his neighbors were still inside. Soon after, he was relieved when he saw them standing on the sidewalk, unharmed.
Firefighters say the fire started outside, possibly on couches that were on the home's stoop. The cause is still under investigation.
