Fire, Gales Creek, Highway 6

Home on Lyda Drive burning in Gales Creek near Highway 6

The home on Lyda Drive in flames. Photo: Walt Wright

GALES CREEK – A home near the junction of the Wilson River Highway — signed also as Highway 6 — and the western end of Lyda Drive is in flames, according to Forest Grove Fire and Rescue.

Highway 6 was closed while crews work on the scene; according to Forest Grove Fire & Rescue public information officer Matt Johnston.

As of about 5 p.m., one lane of Highway 6 was letting traffic through with flaggers from the Oregon Department of Transportation controlling traffic.

“Expect delays in area as weekend coastal traffic is heavy,” Johnston said on Twitter.

The home’s occupant and a dog both are out of the home and were not injured, according to Johnston.

The home is close to the old Bateman Store near mile post 41 where Bateman Creek runs under the highway and joins Gales Creek.

Multiple area residents — including one neighbor of the burned home — reported a power outage starting around 2:40 p.m. in Gales Creek.

About 25 minutes after his power went out, the resident of the burned home smelled smoke, according to Johnston.

No cause for the fire has been established yet.

It’s unclear if the fire and the power outage are linked.

Portland General Electric spokesperson Andrea Platt said that at least 132 residents were affected, with more than half calling in to the utility company to report the outage.

Platt said that the outage was caused by an equipment failure, the cause of which was being investigated.

This is a developing story, more info will be added as it becomes known.

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Chas Hundley is the editor of the Gales Creek Journal and sister news publications the Banks Post and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.

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