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Portland Fire Responds to Fire at Lacamas Labs
Just after 4:30 pm today crews responded to reports of a fire at a warehouse at the 3600 block of N Suttle Rd. Initially callers reported a building on fire and could hear explosions. The fire crews responding reported seeing a large smoke column from a distance. Upon arrival fire crews were notified that the building was being evacuated of all personnel. Early reports indicated that a failure of a hot oil system used in in their operations failed and there was a concern that the oil itself could catch fire.
Plant personnel also informed crews that there were hazardous materials inside the building adjacent to the oil pump machinery which triggered a call to our HazMat team who were first consulted and then responded to the scene.
When crews arrived, they found fire showing from the front of the building in and around the area of the oil pump. Initial fire suppression efforts were exclusively performed on the exterior of the building. As evidenced by the change in color of the smoke and the reports from the first arriving engine that much of the exterior fire had been extinguished and all focus was placed on mitigating any fire problem inside the structure in question.
The hot oil pump was housed in a structure that shared a wall with the building in question and a door to the main warehouse was left open, so enough heat entered the structure that caused the fire sprinkler system put in place to begin to operate. You can see the location of the pump in the attached photos along with the door that was open to the inside of the building that housed other chemicals used in their operation.
Due to the nature of the HazMat presence and the concern of putting water onto substances that behave violently with water a slow and safe methodical approach was taken in addressing the inside of the structure. The fire crews worked diligently with plant personnel and responding utility companies to safely de-energize the building and prevent any more oil from flowing through a potentially damaged system as crews continued to finish extinguishing all exterior fire.
After the exterior fire was successfully addressed the process of safely entering the building and making certain that all impacted areas were properly addressed. Firefighters used multiple gas monitoring devices to ensure their safety. It was discovered that much of the fire was contained to the outside of the structure with very little damage to the inside of the warehouse. The sprinkler system was flowing and up to 6” of water had collected on the floor of the warehouse. All water and oil released was safely collected by the plant containment basins put in place for such purpose. Additionally, it was discovered a pressurized nitrogen gas line was damaged and was venting safely into the atmosphere and the flow of gas was stopped to prevent any more gas venting.
The incident was recalled after 1 hour of time from the call being dispatched with the cause of the fire under investigation. There were no injuries to plant personnel or firefighting crews and all hazardous materials were safely contained in plant catchment basins. Plant personnel are on scene addressing the cleanup process.
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