Portland Fire Addresses Early Morning Residential Fire. (Photo) - 05/01/26
Portland Fire addresses early morning residential fire.
At 4:57 AM PF&R was dispatched to a possible house fire located at the intersection of SE 30th Place and SE Stark in the Kerns Neighborhood. First arriving fire company from Engine 9 remarked they could see the glow of the fire from blocks away sizing up the fire upon arrival with the message to all arriving companies the corner home was “well involved with fire”. At this time there were 26 members of PF&R enroute or on scene of this emergency in 4 fire engines, 2 trucks, and 2 chiefs assigned to this emergency.
The command officer directed the crew to protect the exposures with heavy fire impinging on the next-door home located a few feet away. The firefighters pulled a hose line off the engine and positioned themselves in an area that allowed water to flow between the homes to minimize the chances of the fire jumping to the neighboring home. Radio traffic from the pump operator was indicating the water flow was quickly depleting the tank water and access to a fire hydrant supply line from the next arriving engine was of paramount concern. As the radio report from the driver indicating the 500 gallon tank was nearly empty the water supply company transmitted the message “water coming” indicating the fire hydrant had been connected and they were sending water from the water main grid directly into the pumping engine allowing for a continuous supply of water that was used to protect the exposure home. During these initial actions it was obvious the house in question was undergoing a significant remodel project with evidence of the work present in the backyard of the property.
The significant amount of fire in the primary fire structure prevented any interior access to the home involved and all members were working to reduce the flames that were impinging upon the neighboring homes to the North and East of primary fire structure, along with the overhead powerlines to the south that were affected by the body of fire. The fire damage to the home began to compromise the structure with the wall between the homes beginning to fail and lean toward the unaffected home. With the potential of the fire jumping to the neighboring home a second alarm assignment was initiated that placed another 4 fire engines, a truck, an additional chief along with other members of PF&R placing over 50 of the 171 on duty members assigned either on scene or heading toward this incident.
Heavy smoke pushing out of the neighboring home led to a concern that the fire had entered the attic space of this adjacent structure. A second pumping engine was placed into service with fire hose lines being taken to the front door of the home in preparation to address any possible fire problem in this neighboring home. Crews entered the home to find the fire had not yet made entry to any floor nor that attic space so the work at preventing the fire extension was successful and all smoke appearing at the eave line was from the primary fire home.
Under the rubble of the front porch a distinguishable blue colored flame was present indicating the natural gas service line had been ruptured with the free-flowing gas as a fuel for this flame. Crews performed a protective hose line shield to gain access to the service line to stop the flow of gas fueling this flame. NW Natural was called to scene to further address this gas service line issue. NW Natural eventually had to dig into the street to gain access to this gas feeding line to properly clamp the line and stop the flow of gas away from the home in question.
With 1/3 of the on duty 171 members addressing this emergency, the Fire Liaison Officer began to move fire engines from the areas of town unaffected by the response to this house fire to the city core, so responders were available to address the emergencies that continue to occur in the 145 square mile City of Portland. PF&R knows that second’s matter in responding to many emergencies so having available responders located close to emergencies can often be critical in the outcome of any significant emergency. When the unassigned companies were released from this fire, they were directed to check in with the Fire Liaison to learn of their new assigned response location as they may not automatically return to their home station but rather be placed in a different location to best address the incoming dispatched emergency responses.
Thirty minutes into the emergency response the fire was considered under control with the fire being kept to the primary fire structure. There was some exterior damage to the neighboring home to the north and some damage to a deciduous tree in the yard of the fire home. Had we experienced this incident later in the summer, the moisture level in the tree would have been much different and this fire would’ve certainly quickly extended into the crown of the tree and then to the house located across the alleyway to the east.
The heat emanating off the fire caused 3 burns of working firefighters through their protective clothing. The firefighter on the end of the nozzle placed between the fire structure and the exposure home experienced burns on his hands while maintaining his position continuing to flow the water that prevented the flames from entering the neighboring home. His positioning as described by the command officer who had a direct view was the firefighter tucked themselves into the smallest ball possible near the ground using their helmet to shield the heat to the head and continuously applied the water to the exposure home throughout the initial actions taken which is certain to have saved the neighboring home. The two other firefighters experienced similar burns through their clothing based on the extended period required to work in an extremely hot location. Each has been transported to the hospital for a quick evaluation and are all doing well and will not experience extended time off duty due to the injuries sustained while working on this emergency incident.
The heat not only affected the responders but impacted a few PF&R rigs that were on scene with items on three of our response vehicles that also experienced damage due to the heavy heat created from the fire. Engine 23 had many plastic lens covers of their lights melted, a valve cover on the pump panel, and the spider cracking of the rear window of the cab. Engine 9 had their cones melt while resting on the back bumper, and the side view mirror housing of the battalion chief rig was wrinkled due to the heat. Neither fire engine nor the BC rig will be placed out of service due to the damages but will have items replaced today for proper operation to continue. The PF&R Emergency Vehicle Technicians will travel around and ensure that all rigs will operate as designed and expected throughout the day today.
Portland Fire & Rescue is thankful the proper resources to keep this fire to a single structure were available. The moving up of fire companies from areas not affected directly by this fire that had more than 50 on scene but had an additional 24 members moving into areas that were absent of coverage due to the extreme need of a workforce to mitigate the emergency on hand. This nearly 80 members impacted by this single house fire is nearly ½ the on duty staffing on a single emergency. As this fire was closing up, another house fire in the SE part of town drew an immediate 26 firefighters moving in that direction, taking the total to close to 100 members working on 2 incidents across the city. During the time between the initial dispatch of this large 2nd alarm response in the Kerns Neighborhood and the SE PDX fire tapped out 3 hours later, PF&R responded to an additional 25 emergencies certain to involve nearly each on-duty member throughout this 3 hour period of time.
Although 2 homes were affected by this fire, there will be no additional displacement of the occupants as the home remodel in the primary fire structure has this home unoccupied. The neighboring home is currently unoccupied as well in an attempt at making a home sale with no occupants actively using the home. The cause of the fire is under investigation with the PF&R Fire Investigation Team on scene beginning the long forensic evaluation and interviewing anyone who may be helpful in determining cause.
Portland Fire would like to thank the dispatchers at BOEC for their assistance in managing this dynamic scene. In addition, we would like to thank the assistance provided by PPB in keeping the area free of vehicle traffic while we worked along the traditionally busy SE Stark Street. And not to be overlooked, PF&R would like to thank both PGE and NW Natural for providing us with assistance in managing the utilities during this emergency.
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