The fire started on the back patio of 1109 Auburn Place in Ridgefield at 11 p.m. Inside, Preston Pearson was falling asleep beside his wife and their young daughter. Their five other children, between the ages of 8 and 16, were also in the house.
“...Our oldest daughter comes in and she’s like, ‘Something’s burning,’ so I look over to the window, and I see like an orangish color,” recalls Pearson. “I run downstairs and look at the back patio, and I just see a blaze.”
Pearson says that he ran for the water hose, and when he returned less than a minute later, the flames were raging “maybe 15 feet high.”
The fire spread to surrounding houses, like the home of Felise Canterini, who lives behind the Pearsons. She says the fire damaged her windows and roof. According to Canterini, broken windows and water from the fire department’s hoses displaced other neighbors into a hotel.
A statement issued on the Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue Facebook page reports that three residents suffered minor injuries. The cause of the fire remains unknown, though fire marshals continue to investigate.
‘It’s not recognizable’
Pearson and his family escaped, but their 8-month-old golden labradoodle puppy, Mila, did not. She was found upstairs, beneath a bed where Pearson says she hid when she was scared. According to CCFR’s official incident report, firefighters attempted to resuscitate Mila at the scene but were not successful.
Pearson remembers her as a “pretty girl, full of love and energy,” and says “…she just made your day better.”
“You know dogs,” he continues. “They always love you. And losing that, it just hurts. Right now, we could definitely use her. With her gone, it’s like a missing piece of our family. We all want Mila here with us.”
From the street, 1109 Auburn Place looks like any other house on the street, save for the plywood blinding the two upstairs windows. The home’s backside has been blackened and warped. Inside, “It’s not recognizable,” Pearson says. Almost everything has been ruined by heat and smoke.
To make matters worse, the Pearsons recently changed their insurance policy; while his wife’s policy included renter’s insurance, Pearson’s policy does not. As a result, they have not received any compensation for their losses.
“We were just trying to combine all of our finances, and that’s one of the things we obviously overlooked, and it ended up costing us—everything,” Pearson says, voice hitching. “I haven’t slept in like a week,” he continues. He has spent that time securing the necessities, working to get his family back to baseline. “And that’s what I’ve done,” he says.
They have found a new rental, leaving the hotel that temporarily sheltered them. Now the family must settle into a new home, just a few minutes away from 1109 Auburn Place, and try to return to normal.
“I keep telling myself like, you gonna get over it soon, you gonna get over it soon. But this, it’s just lingering,” says Pearson.
‘When our communities need us most’
To help ease the burden of rebuilding a life from scratch—the Pearsons’ neighbors have established two GoFundMe campaigns and shared their story widely on social media.
Briana Lembke, the neighbor responsible for one GoFundMe, wrote in a Facebook post: “It’s a scary reminder of how quickly life can change, and I’m grateful to be part of a community that comes together when it counts.”
The fire at the Pearsons’ home was actually the second house fire of that Friday.
Earlier on October 2, a fire ignited at a home off of NW 253rd Street, around 11:30 a.m. Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue arrived on the scene within seven minutes. They controlled the fire after approximately an hour, with help from Clark County Fire Districts 3, 6, 10 and 13. There were no known injuries.
No information about the fire’s cause has been released. CCFR reported in a Facebook post that their fire marshal as well as the Clark County fire marshal are investigating.
“The response to two separate two-alarm fires in a single day underscored the critical importance of cross-county training, mutual aid agreements, and strategically positioned resources in the District,” said CCFR in another Facebook post. “...These relationships strengthen our collective ability to respond effectively when our communities need us most.”
GoFundMe links: gofundme.com/f/neighbors-come-together-for-the-pearson-family-after-fire and gofundme.com/f/help-preston-and-family
