A two-alarm fire tore through a split-level home on Lavina Drive in Forest Grove early Sunday, sending a Cornelius firefighter to the hospital after falling debris struck him during the mop-up phase of the response. Crews were called out around 12:20 a.m. to the 3100 block of Lavina Drive, where flames were already spreading from the garage into the main part of the house.
Arriving firefighters found the stairway to the home's main entrance blocked by fire, according to KATU. More than a dozen stored bicycles, including several e-bikes, further cluttered the area near the home, and firefighters had to climb a five-foot retaining wall just to reach the front door. Fire safety experts have warned that storing e-bikes and other bulky items near entryways and stairwells can block both evacuation routes and emergency access, a hazard tied to lithium-ion battery risks as noted by FirstService Residential.
The home's sole occupant evacuated safely before crews arrived, per the station's report. Firefighters called for a second alarm at about 12:30 a.m. as the fire intensified, pulling in mutual aid from across Washington County.
A Region-Wide Response Under One Mutual-Aid System
Forest Grove Fire & Rescue was joined on scene by crews from Cornelius, Hillsboro, Gaston, and Banks fire agencies, along with AMR Washington County and Forest Grove police. That kind of rapid, multi-agency turnout is built into the system: mutual response to multi-alarm fires in the county runs through an intergovernmental agreement under the Washington County Fire Defense Board, which automatically dispatches neighboring departments once a second alarm goes out. The same board coordinated a $2.99 million FEMA grant back in September 2019 that standardized 427 breathing apparatus units across all six county fire agencies, ensuring equipment works the same way no matter which department shows up.
Crews had the fire under control shortly after 1 a.m., work that took roughly 35 minutes once the second alarm went out. No other people were injured in the fire, KATU reported. Forest Grove Fire & Rescue, which protects roughly 35,000 residents and 85 square miles from a downtown station and an all-volunteer outpost in Gales Creek, is a career department of 18 line firefighters backed by about 50 volunteers, according to the City of Forest Grove.
Injury Struck During the Riskiest Phase of the Fight
The firefighter hurt was from the Cornelius Fire Department and was checking for hot spots during overhaul — the extended search for hidden fire that follows initial knockdown — when falling debris struck him, Forest Grove Fire & Rescue reported. He was taken to the hospital for evaluation; his condition was not reported. Crews spent more than an hour on overhaul work following the initial 35-minute knockdown before the injury occurred.
National data help explain why that stage of firefighting is so dangerous. Overhaul operations account for 8 to 9 percent of all fireground injuries nationwide, according to the National Fire Protection Association. Separately, NFPA statistics show collapsing or falling objects cause 14 percent of fireground injuries among volunteer firefighters and 9 percent among career personnel, since heat- and water-weakened structural materials often give way once the initial flames are out.
Cornelius and Forest Grove's Shifting Fire Partnership
The injured firefighter's department has an evolving relationship with Forest Grove's. Cornelius ended a 15-year administrative partnership with Forest Grove Fire & Rescue in March 2025, according to the City of Cornelius, re-establishing its own independent fire chief as the city's population grew. The two cities had shared fire leadership since 2010, and Cornelius still maintains interagency automatic-aid agreements across Washington County — the same framework that sent its crews to Lavina Drive early Sunday.
Investigators are still working to determine what sparked the fire. Neighborhood real estate records describe homes on Lavina Drive as split-level structures built into sloped terrain, with recent median sale prices between $570,000 and $620,000, according to OregonLive — terrain that likely explains why firefighters needed to scale a retaining wall just to get inside.
