PF&R Responds To 2nd Alarm Commercial Fire At Elephants Deli (Photo)
- 03/10/26
PF&R responds to 2nd Alarm Commercial Fire at Elephants Deli
At 1:00 AM, Portland Fire was dispatched to a possible fire at 115 NW 22nd, the Elephant’s Deli. Crews arrived to what was possibly an exterior fire that had extended to the interior and into the roof structure of the nearly 7000 square foot building built in 1947.
The exterior portion of the fire was quickly extinguished, and crews accessed the interior to address any visible fire in the large open space of the commercial delicatessen. Fire had extended into the complex roof structure and was difficult to access from both the interior and exterior. Crews were on the roof using saws to gain access to the areas in the attic that had heavy fire involvement. Crews were also using long pike poles on the interior in attempt to access the attic.
Crews were temporarily pulled off the roof with heavy fire pushing out of roof vents 20 minutes into the incident with a concern of switching tactics to a defensive fire attack posture. Radio communication made from the last officer to exit the structure indicating a body of fire was just located and could safely be addressed from both the interior and exterior had command continue permit the offensive fire attack. A second alarm was requested at around the 30 minute mark with aggressive smoke pushing out of vent holes and long flames shooting upwards from the roof at this time in the incident.
There was much concern that the fire and cuts had weakened the roof structure that was holding up a few large HVAC units along with multiple fire crews working on the roof. When it was determined that it was no longer safe to attempt accessing the body of fire within the complex roof structure, the command officer directed all members to withdraw from their locations, and a Personnel Accountability Report (PAR) was conducted to ensure all working on scene were accounted for. Crews worked to gain access through holes in the wall while working off ladders around an added awning in attempt at accessing body of fire trapped in an interior void space in the roof construction. Multiple holes were opened in the wall with no access to the fire present on the interior.
A tactical change was made to use the overhead master stream from a ladder truck to flood the roof complex and allow the water to find the fire from the top and drown in out with copious amounts of water. This change ended up leaving only Station 3 and C1 on scene working reducing the numbers of PF&R members on scene from nearly 60 to under 10.
Portland Fire Investigations Unit was on scene early to evaluate the fire and has begun working toward beginning a forensic evaluation of the scene to determine cause. There were no reported injuries. NW 22nd between NW Everett and W Burnside will be closed until fire apparatus being used to extinguish the flames are able to relocate.
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PF&R Responds To 2nd Alarm Commercial Fire At Elephants Deli (Photo)
- 03/10/26
PF&R responds to 2nd Alarm Commercial Fire at Elephants Deli
At 1:00 AM, Portland Fire was dispatched to a possible fire at 115 NW 22nd, the Elephant’s Deli. Crews arrived to what was possibly an exterior fire that had extended to the interior and into the roof structure of the nearly 7000 square foot building built in 1947.
The exterior portion of the fire was quickly extinguished, and crews accessed the interior to address any visible fire in the large open space of the commercial delicatessen. Fire had extended into the complex roof structure and was difficult to access from both the interior and exterior. Crews were on the roof using saws to gain access to the areas in the attic that had heavy fire involvement. Crews were also using long pike poles on the interior in attempt to access the attic.
Crews were temporarily pulled off the roof with heavy fire pushing out of roof vents 20 minutes into the incident with a concern of switching tactics to a defensive fire attack posture. Radio communication made from the last officer to exit the structure indicating a body of fire was just located and could safely be addressed from both the interior and exterior had command continue permit the offensive fire attack. A second alarm was requested at around the 30 minute mark with aggressive smoke pushing out of vent holes and long flames shooting upwards from the roof at this time in the incident.
There was much concern that the fire and cuts had weakened the roof structure that was holding up a few large HVAC units along with multiple fire crews working on the roof. When it was determined that it was no longer safe to attempt accessing the body of fire within the complex roof structure, the command officer directed all members to withdraw from their locations, and a Personnel Accountability Report (PAR) was conducted to ensure all working on scene were accounted for. Crews worked to gain access through holes in the wall while working off ladders around an added awning in attempt at accessing body of fire trapped in an interior void space in the roof construction. Multiple holes were opened in the wall with no access to the fire present on the interior.
A tactical change was made to use the overhead master stream from a ladder truck to flood the roof complex and allow the water to find the fire from the top and drown in out with copious amounts of water. This change ended up leaving only Station 3 and C1 on scene working reducing the numbers of PF&R members on scene from nearly 60 to under 10.
Portland Fire Investigations Unit was on scene early to evaluate the fire and has begun working toward beginning a forensic evaluation of the scene to determine cause. There were no reported injuries. NW 22nd between NW Everett and W Burnside will be closed until fire apparatus being used to extinguish the flames are able to relocate.
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