Residents of Patterson House Apartments woke up to alarms and flames after a fire from a nearby abandoned building spread early on the morning of Sept. 5.
The incident is still under open investigation with both the Eugene Springfield Fire Department Marshal’s Office and the Eugene Police Department Arson Investigation team, Kelsey Hunter, executive assistant to the Fire Chief, said.
“We don’t have an origin, but we do have where it happened, which is the vacant building that is part of the incident,” Hunter said. “We don’t have an ignition source yet or a cause.”
Patterson House Apartments, which sits across the street from the dorm Barnhart Hall, houses over 30 residents.
A mix of community members and University of Oregon students, the residents will have to find new places to live just before the start of fall term.
It took around two and a half hours to put out the fire, and there were no reported injuries, according to Hunter. The vacant building where the fire started is a complete loss, she said. The third building’s status is unknown.
All residents are required to have previous rental insurance according to Heidi Clodfelter, owner of Principle Property Management, which manages the apartments. Employees of Patterson House Apartments have been assisting residents with their salvageable belongings that were left behind.
After the fire, Patterson House Apartments reached out to many other properties in Eugene to find rooms to house the displaced residents, Clodfelter said.
Due to water damage caused by the fire sprinklers and flame impact to the third floor, Patterson House Apartments is set to be gutted and rebuilt next year. Clodfelter said she is hoping for previous residents to return.
Hunter said students should have an emergency plan for wherever they are living, whether that’s a dorm, apartment or shared house.
“Make sure that everyone you live with has an evacuation plan, and everybody knows what their role is,” Hunter said. “And then to practice that emergency plan because that’s where muscle memory will happen.”
