Portland Fire & Rescue
08/21/2024 | Press release | Archived content
Portland Fire responds to 2nd alarm apartment fire in SE Portland (Photo)
August 21, 2024 22:15
Portland Fire responds to 2nd alarm apartment fire in SE Portland
At 7:52 PM BOEC dispatched out a residential fire in a multi occupancy apartment complex in the Sellwood-Moreland Neighborhood with reports of a fire on the balcony of one of the units with lots of smoke billowing upwards. The audible fire alarm was activated to alert occupants of a potential fire in the 8-story structure. Handheld hose lines and the inhouse fire sprinkler protection system kept the fire to a single occupancy with no fire extension to any other unit. There were no reported injuries with only three residents to be displaced because of water and other damages caused by the fire and fire suppression activities.
Crews communicated a header or smoke column as they were approaching the structure indicating heavy fire. The first arriving engine from our mutual aid partner Clackamas County Fire reported fire on the balcony of a unit on what was believed to be the 4th floor with more fire showing on all balconies directly above this location. Shortly after their arrival, a PF&R engine arrived and took command of the incident and directed all other responders that the high-rise protocol would be enacted as this was a structure greater than 7 stories in height. This high-rise response has more firefighters and fire apparatus dispatched in the initial single alarm response because of the possible work that may ensue given the height of the building. This preplanned response has engine and truck companies preassigned to tasks based on the order in the original fire dispatch, so everyone is aware of their expected tasks prior to arrival, allowing the crew to get to work immediately. With the addition of the Clackamas County Engine the fire attack had 2 companies going directly to the fire floor and expected fire unit and all other companies performing their preassigned tasks such as fire floor assignments, floor above, floor below, lobby control, and stairwell management among other tasks.
The first arriving Battalion Chief took command and requested a second alarm assignment to get many more rigs responding in the event the fire overtook the existing personnel on scene along with the possibility of assisting the many occupants in this structure with more than 100 occupancies. In addition to the second alarm assignment, a strike team of ambulances was requested with the possibility of multiple injuries due to the high occupancy load. (A strike team is five [5] of the same units - in this case ambulances and is a common request in the fire service but most often when discussing wildland style fires with a strike team of engines requested.)
Crews went to work quickly in an offensive fire attack tactic and were able to suppress the flames on the balconies in short order by taking hose lines aloft to the fire floor, connecting to the internal standpipe and stretching to the fire occupancy. The sprinklers within the fire occupancy were activated and keeping the fire at bay until the large volume of water from the hand-held hose lines completed the extinguishment. This fire was kept mainly to the balconies or exterior of the structure starting on a balcony and extended upward, which is to be expected, but also had fire embers dropping below and causing light fire damage to a few balconies below the fire floor balcony. A quick hit from the fire hose was able to extinguish any fire on the balconies in question below once the main body of fire on the primary balcony and above was extinguished.
All occupants were able to safely evacuate to the exterior of the structure with no reported injuries. Pets left behind were reconnected to their owners by fire crews as they searched the entire building to be sure all occupants, and pets were safely on the exterior. There will be 3 occupants displaced with Red Cross contacted to assist in this displacement. There is a team of investigators on scene interviewing occupants and sifting through the debris for clues to determine the start of the fire.
Portland Fire & Rescue would like to thank the dispatchers at BOEC, the responding officers from Portland Police, and our partners from Clackamas County in their assistance in extinguishing this fire quickly.
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