PF&R Responds To Fire At Assisted Living And Care Facility (Photo) - 09/28/25
PF&R Responds to 2nd Alarm Fire at Assited Living and Memory Care Facility
At just before 2:30 PM, Portland Fire & Rescue responded to reports of a commercial alarm at the Firwood Gardens Memory Care and Assisted Living Facility in the Hazelwood Neighborhood of NE Portland. This facility is filled with residents with either mobility challenges and in wheelchairs or reside in the memory care wing with levels of dementia requiring them to receive observational care 24 hours a day. While PF&R Engine 7 was responding the location, the incident was upgraded to a commercial fire adding 3 more engines, 2 trucks, and 2 chiefs placing 26 members of PF&R enroute to the facility.
With reports of smoke in a hallway, the Engine 7 crew split upon arrival with the back seat team entering and performing an investigation of the 90 occupancy - 2 story - multiple wing facility to locate the source of smoke and be able to guide the remainder of the crews appropriately upon their arrival. The B-team member entered the suspected wing of the fire by opening the fire doors that had automatically closed with the alarm activation to report to command a dirty hallway with dark smoke banked down the floor. The fire apartment was located and accessed by forcible entry to have heavy dark smoke push out of the door opening. The nozzle firefighter advanced the hose to the door and extinguished the fire located on the bed of the occupancy filled with oxygen bottles used for the respiratory assistance of the occupant.
The first arriving battalion chief requested a second alarm response adding another 26 firefighters and a chief to the incident. Along with a few 2-person rescue companies, this places nearly 60 members of PF&R and Gresham Fire, our mutual aid partners, on scene. With the excellent radio report by the first arriving firefighters, arriving companies were able to go directly to work as they knew exactly what to expect based on the radio transmission heard by all on the operational radio channel. Most were focussed searching for and evacuating the mobility challenged residents, often being required to physically carry them to safety while others performed fire suppression tasks. As the fire was being extinguished in the fire room, it was discovered the resident was on the bed which was the location of the most amount of fire present. The nozzle team and truck officer quickly grabbed the victim and brought them outside to be quickly transported to the Emanuel Burn Center by AMR with life-threatening injuries.
PF&R had challenges in moving hose lines and tools to the location with residents in various styles of mobility assistance devices ranging from standing with a cane moving slowly, to using a walker, with the buld of the residents in wheelchairs. Evacuation companies were taking the residents from their chairs and carrying them down the stairs as this was the fastest and safest way out. The wheelchairs were also taken out with the resident to provide a comfortable and safe place to be while the crews were actively addressing the emergency.
The fire was confined to a single apartment with the in-house fire safety sprinkler system activated and suppressing the flames, minimizingthe extension of the flames to the structure. Once extinguished, the crews began to assist in water removal to reduce the damage to the facility. Once the fire was extinguished, PF&R Deputy Chief assisted the facility with resetting the alarm which allowed the locking doors in the memory care wing to be reengaged as the activation of the alarm deactivated the magnetic locking system providing a challenge for staff members to keep the residents safely enclosed in the living space provided.
The cause of the fire is under investigation with the PF&R Fire Investigations Unit on scene. The two investigators present are performing a physical forensic evaluation of the apartment room and interviewing staff members in hopes of determining a cause of this fire.
Portland Fire would like to thank Gresham Fire for their assistance in the incident along with the City of Portland Public Safety Officers who responded to redirect traffic from the southbound lanes of NE 122nd allowing the crews to operate safely along the street. Additionally, PF&R would like to thank the dispatchers at BOEC for their help during the emergency. Lastly, PF&R also appreciates the assistance from the members of American Medical Response who transported the burn victim and performed a large number of medical triages on the occupants who were taken outside for their safety to ensure no one else needed elevated medical care.
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