PORTLAND, Ore. — Two floating homes were destroyed and another damaged along the Columbia River near Pier West south of Hayden Island after a fire broke out Friday morning.
One elderly couple was rescued from a home shortly before it caught fire. According to Portland Fire & Rescue, crews responded to the fire around 4 a.m. and found heavy flames coming from one floating home before the fire quickly spread to neighboring homes.
Officials said the unique layout of the floating home community made firefighting efforts especially difficult. Crews had to run water lines down gangplanks and around obstacles to reach the burning homes.
At the same time, fireboats from Portland Fire & Rescue pulled water directly from the Columbia River and used what crews called a “master stream” to attack the most heavily damaged home from a distance…