PF&R Responds To Early Morning Apartment Fire With Suspect In Custody (Photo) -03/12/25

PF&R responds to early morning apartment fire with suspect in custody

At 6:09 this morning, Portland Fire & Rescue responded to an apartment fire in the North Portland St. John’s Neighborhood with reports of a kitchen fire in an apartment complex located on N. Trumball Avenue. The location of this occupancy is less than a mile from the closest fire station, so the initial engine and truck crews arrived quickly to report smoke showing from the north end of an apartment building. PPB was already on scene assisting in notifying and evacuating residents.

While the first two 4-person engine crews were establishing a water supply and pulling hose from the engine to the apartment with the fire issue, the first arriving truck was investigating the fire apartment along with assisting in the evacuation process of the occupants. A radio transmission from a firefighter performing a 360 of the structure indicated active fire was present on the backside of the structure. This prompted the command officer to request a second alarm assignment to ensure that if the fire grew and ran the entire building, there would be enough firefighters on scene to safely evacuate all residents along with have fire suppression capabilities.

It is the top priority of PF&R to save lives and in a fire scenario with an occupied housing complex and the tasks of extinguishing the fire while simultaneously performing evacuation or rescue can quickly consume resources from the initial alarm. The second alarm adds an additional 26 members to the response along with a station bringing a Rehab unit to the scene to perform medical evaluations on both firefighters and residents on scene if needed. In total, PF&R had 64 members assigned and enroute to the location. This is the second early AM fire in as many days where PF&R has added resources to a fire call to ensure enough workforce is on scene to address any additional evacuation-rescue-medical component that can easily occur in high-density residential structures with an active fire issue. We place 171 members in fire stations surrounding the city daily to have enough members on duty and available to safely manage risks like these.

With the fire isolated to a single apartment the initial fire attach crew was able to extinguish the fire in the apartment quickly with a small amount of extension upward into the attic space. The second truck crew on scene was on the roof cutting a ventilation hole in the roof to allow for smoke and heat to escape the structure. This crew confirmed a small amount of fire present in the attic and requested a hose line to the roof to extinguish the flames. The fire was completely extinguished in under 20 minutes with nearly all the second alarm companies turning around prior to their arrival on this fire scene.

There will be at least a single occupant displaced with a possibility of the resident in the apartment below the fire room needing to relocate due to water damage. There were no reported injuries. The combined PF&R-PPB Fire Investigations Unit is on scene performing resident interviews and investigating the suspected area of origin to determine cause including the deployment of the accelerant detection canine team. Preston Joseph MacDougall, 38, is in custody and lodged into the MCSO detention center with the charges of two counts of arson-1, a single count of criminal mischief-1, and three counts of reckless endangerment.

Portland Fire would like to thank our Public Safety partners at PPB and BOEC for the assistance in this incident.

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PF&R Responds To Second Alarm Commercial Fire In Overlook Neighborhood **Updated Photos** (Photo) -03/05/25

At 11:21 pm on March 4, 2025 PF&R crews were dispatched to a reported commercial fire at the former Peninsula Children’s Center at 4720 N Maryland Ave. This building, which takes up almost an entire city block, is currently being demolished under the leadership of Home Forward to build affordable housing per a Home Forward representative on scene.

Upon their arrival 2 minutes later, the first arriving crew Engine 24 reported heavy fire coming from a covered play area on the left side of the building, and they stretched hose lines to begin fire attack on this portion of the structure. After getting a good knock down on this portion of the fire, Engine 24 reported that the fire had extended into the structure. At 11:28, Truck 8 reported that heavy fire was blowing out of the second floor of the building and a second alarm was called by incident command one minute later to bring more resources to the scene to address this expanding fire problem.

At 11:32, Engine 14 report that fire was coming through the right side of the roof. In anticipation of the need for a possible defensive attack on this fire--with hose streams from aerial ladders--in the event the roof or the structure was weakened, and the structure was too dangerous for an interior attack, ladder trucks were positioned on three sides of the building and water supplies were established at three separate hydrants. The incident commander determined that the building was stable enough for an initial interior attack and several crews stretched hose lines into the interior of the building, where they found smoke and minimal heat on the first floor and heavy fire on the stairwell up to the second story. These crew simultaneously began interior fire attack and search and rescue operations.

Upon reaching the second story of the structure, crews found heavy fire in the vaulted ceiling space on the second floor that was burning through the attic space. Vaulted ceilings are an area of concern in these fires, as the large open space allows for heavy fire accumulation and spread. At 11:48, the Squad 1 crew reported that the bulk of the interior fire in the vaulted ceiling space and in the second-floor stairwell was knocked down, however they reported that the roof above was still on fire. A hose line was then brought to the roof and several ladder truck crews extinguished this roof fire. At 11:52, a battalion chief reported that the fire was under control, with crews still checking for additional extension and any hidden fire. Incident command recalled the incident at 12:24 am, with several companies remaining on scene working.

There were no injuries at this fire and investigators from PF&R’s Fire Investigations Unit are on scene working to determine a cause

A total of 8 engines, 4 ladder trucks, one squad, one rehab truck, 2 investigators, and 5 chiefs responded to this fire, for a total of 63 PF&R member working this incident.

Fire Crews Quickly Contain Apartment Fire On N Montana Ave (Photo) -02/21/25

At approximately 12:20 p.m. today, fire crews responded to reports of a possible apartment fire at the 6300 block of N Montana Ave. Initial calls reported that smoke was visible from a three-story apartment building that was under construction.

Truck 8 was the first crew to arrive on the scene and confirmed smoke coming from the second story. Firefighters quickly entered the structure and located a fire within the wall, which appeared to be spreading to the floor above. Upon recognizing the potential for fire extension, the Chief in command escalated the response to a second alarm, ensuring additional resources were available should the fire spread further.

After gaining access to the third floor, crews discovered a 2' by 2' hole in the floor with active fire showing through. Firefighters successfully extinguished the main body of the fire and conducted a thorough inspection by opening walls to check for additional fire spread. Fortunately, the fire had not extended beyond the initial area, and it was officially recalled approximately 20 minutes after the initial call.

Fire investigators determined that the fire originated on the second floor and was caused by a warming fire. No injuries have been reported in connection with this incident.

PF&R Responds To A Structure Fire (11700 Block Of SE Bush St.) (Photo) -02/15/25

This morning just before 1:00 AM Portland Fire crews were called to a house fire on the 11700 block of SE Bush St. When they arrived firefighters noted heavy fire on the exterior that was pushing into the interior and attic areas of the structure. Firefighters worked to extinguish the flames and to ensure that all occupants were outside. It was also necessary to cut a whole in the roof to ventillate fire gases which are toxic and flammable.

The majority of fire was knocked down quickly and the occupants were given shelter by neighbors. One person was evaluated by firefighters for a cut to the hand that did not require transport by ambulance. Once the fire was recalled (deemed under control) firefighters worked to remove or extinguish any remaining smoldering material and a fire investigator was called to determine the cause.

Fighting fire in freezing and/or snowy conditions can create additional difficulty for firefighters. Hoses and equipment can freeze and vehicles operating with chains on take longer to get around. While it may take longer to get to you we are coming if you need us. We do however ask the public to be even more careful than normal during inclement weather.