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Firefighters knock down morning fire in White City By Morgan Rothborne Updated: Nov 23, 2022 02:55 PM A A A White City residence remains standing but likely was damaged beyond repair in a Wednesday morning house fire. “By the time we got there, it was a well-involved structure fire, and we had a response time of about five minutes or less,” said Bryan Cohee, battalion chief on duty for Fire District 3. When firefighters arrived, a man was exiting the second story onto a patio on the roof, Cohee said. Firefighters called an ambulance and assisted the man down with a ladder. He was examined by firefighters and emergency medical technicians and determined to be unscathed by the fire. The man declined an ambulance ride to the hospital and made no medical complaints Cohee said. The house is still standing, but it likely won’t be saved. “My hunch is it’s a loss insurance-wise,” he said. The two-story house seems to have started burning from the outside, he explained, and much of the fire was on the exterior of the house. Within minutes, firefighters were able to knock down the flames around the suspected ignition point, but a secondary fire in the attic of the house sent firefighters up to the roof to open a hole for ventilation. Five engines and a Mercy Flights ambulance responded to the call. Firefighters were on scene for an hour and a half but achieved knock-down in less than half an hour. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Reach Mail Tribune reporter Morgan Rothborne at [email protected] or 541-776-4487. Follow her on Twitter @MRothborne.