Three Alarm Fire Erupts in Downtown Canby

Before it was over, nearly 50 firefighters were called to battle the blaze.

Photos courtesy: Troy Buzalsky/Canby Fire

(CANBY, Ore.) - As Canby Fire Medic Units were responding to a medical first aid at 7:45 PM, a firefighter named Matt English says he noticed a smoky haze drifting across 99E.

As they continued to respond to the seizure call they rounded the corner from s 99E onto N Grant Street, they found heavy smoke pouring from the rooftop of the Canby Country Kitchen, located at 314 NW 2nd Ave.

Canby Fire Spokesman Troy Buzalky says English radioed dispatch and reported the fire, and then quickly drove the two blocks to the medical first aid.

Buzalsky says that as soon as English and his crew determined the first aid was not life threatening, they quickly responded back to the fire scene to help battle the blaze.

"When firefighters entered the building they found active fire burning in the kitchen area, and into the many concealed attic spaces."

The restaurant in Canby is one of 16 different businesses built into an L shaped strip-mall. Many of these businesses share a common attic, and many also have had numerous remodeling efforts over the past 50 plus years. Crews say this made fighting this fire very difficult.

"I new we needed to get a quick knock-down on the fire," stated Incident Commander Ted Kunze. "I figured we were going to loose the restaurant, but what I really wanted to make sure was that we didn't loose the entire block."

Chief Kunze deployed an aggressive interior attack, but at the same time, he also set up resources in strategic locations, just in case the fire got ahead of the firefighters.

"I set things up for offensive operations…plan B was to switch to a defensive mode, and see where we could cut the fire off at…fortunately we didn't have to go to plan B!" Although the main body of the fire was extinguished quickly, firefighters had to work diligently opening concealed spaces, locating all the fire. Buzalsky says they did this using chainsaws, cutting away prior ceilings and roof structures, slowly but surely, extinguishing fire as they found it.

"The fire was placed under control after approximately one hour. In total, nearly 50 firefighters were called to battle the blaze. Firefighters from Canby, Aurora, Clackamas, Tualatin Valley, Gladstone, Molalla, and Colton assisted in containing the fire to the business of origin."

He says two neighboring businesses suffered smoke damage, and may displace them for a day or two until the smoke damage can be mitigated.

The fire in currently under investigation, however, investigators have narrowed the fires origin to the kitchen. The business is insured, and is considered a total loss.