HERMISTON — Firefighters late Saturday, June 19, in Hermiston knocked down a residential blaze but inside found one occupant dead.

Umatilla County Fire District No. 1 reported two of its firefighters responded at approximately 9:26 p.m. to a fire at a mobile home on the 200 block of East Newport Avenue.

“On arrival, firefighters had flames coming out of a bedroom window at the rear of the residence,” according to the district’s post on Facebook.

The pair were the only ones available because other members of the crew were on a medical call. They knocked down the flames from the exterior, the district reported, then made “an aggressive interior search for the occupant of the residence.”

They found one occupant dead in the bedroom where the fire originated.

Other fire district personnel and equipment soon arrived, and the Umatilla Rural Fire Protection District also assisted.

Umatilla County Fire District No. 1 reported it had installed two smoke alarms in the residence earlier this year, however, when one of those devices was located the battery had been removed.

The district also determined the occupant was smoking in bed prior to the start of the fire.

Working smoke alarms provide early notification to occupants there is a fire, the district emphasized. The early notification also is an indication for the occupants to leave the residence immediately, then call 911.

“Please check your alarms on a regular basis,” the district urged.

And smokers should be cautious with their actions.

“We see many times throughout the year smoking materials that are disposed in household trash and on the ground,” according to the fire district. “Do not use plastic containers to discard your smoking materials into. Empty your collection containers on a regular basis, do not discard packaging or used lighters or other trash in these same containers; this just provides additional fuel that could be ignited. Do not use smoking materials when you are tired or intoxicated.”

Even Fire Standard Compliant cigarettes available in Oregon do not completely guarantee the cigarette will go out. The acceptable failure rate in the product testing of FSC cigarettes is approximately 25%, according to Umatilla County Fire District No. 1, meaning about 1 in 4 of the cigarettes burns completely.