Residential Fire Sends One Person To The Hospital (Photo) - 03/13/26

This morning at approximately 8:50 a.m., fire crews responded to reports of a house fire at the intersection of SE Tibbetts Street and SE 52nd Avenue. Upon arrival, Engine 25 reported visible fire coming from the front of a one-story home. Crews quickly began suppression efforts and knocked down the main body of the fire by 8:55 a.m. Firefighters then searched the home for victims while extinguishing any remaining fire inside. No victims were found inside the residence. However, one person outside the home when crews arrived had suffered burns to their back and upper legs.

An employee from NW Natural was driving by when he noticed the fire and stopped to help before PF&R's arrival. He assisted the injured person across the street to get them away from the burning building after noticing a large oxygen cylinder nearby. Shortly after they moved away from the area, the cylinder burned off, producing a brief fireball as the oxygen rapidly ignited.

AMR personnel responded to treat the injured individual and transported them to a burn center. Their condition is currently unknown, though they were conscious while being treated by crews.

The fire extended into the area above the front porch but was quickly extinguished. Firefighters operating on the roof confirmed that the fire did not spread to the remaining roof structure. The incident was officially recalled at 9:02 a.m.

A fire investigator has been called to determine the cause of the fire. The incident remains under investigation, and the department’s K9 investigator, Kiki, also responded to assist.

#NWNatural

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PF&R Responds To Landslide In SW Portland (Photo) - 03/12/26

PF&R Responds to landslide in SW Portland

Portland Fire & Rescue SW Fire Stations and the Portland Fire Technical Rescue Team responded to a landslide in SW Portland Markham Neighborhood just before noon today. Crews were dispatched out to reports of a landslide covering all exits of an individual building of the Indian Hills Apartment Complex.

Engine 18 arrived first to report landslide had occurred that covered a portion of the parking lot and access roadway running between the slope and the apartment building. Additional information from the E18 crew to their command officer was that mud was still actively slowly moving down the slope. The crews of Engine 5 and Truck 10 worked on evacuating the 6-occupancy building with 2 of the 6 individual apartments occupied and residents escorted to safety The remaining 4 occupancies were left as is with no answer at the door. With few cars parked at the location and the time of day giving good indication that residents were away, PF&R elected to leave the unanswered apartments undamaged without forcing entry at each doorway. The Technical Rescue Team arrived on scene but cleared without operating any specialized equipment as no rescue was needed.

The City of Portland specialized landslide team and geotechnical engineering specialists out of Portland Permitting & Development (PP&D) are on scene evaluating the slope and any potential damage to the structure to ensure future occupancy is safe for all residents. There will also be an evaluation of the entire slope as well as the structural stability of the homes and structures located on the hillside above the area of the landslide.

There were no reported injuries. It is unknown at this time if there will be any residential displacement. Red Cross was contacted and alerted to the reality that 6 apartments may be “red tagged” and unable to occupied until the incident is completely addressed which includes clean up and inspection of the area.

Landslides may continue to occur over the next few days as Portland is in the pathway of an atmospheric river and forecasted for continuous rain until early Saturday morning. Rainwater will continue saturating the soil leading to slippage and possible complete failure of a slope and landslides. When these landslides occur, they will spread along each side or laterally so standing at the base or alongside a recent landslide is an unsafe location. Do not approach a landslide and stand at the base of the slope as these are very unsafe locations.

Portland Fire would like to take this opportunity to remind residents that it is a good idea to have a “go bag” ready in the event you are affected by something such as a landslide or any other natural disaster that may displace you temporarily. It is recommended to have a supply of clothing and any essentials that will allow you 14 days of successful living without having access to your primary home.

Portland Fire would like to thank the dispatchers at BOEC, members of PBOT that responded, and the landslide specialists out of PPD were all instrumental in our success in this incident. Additionally, we would like to thank Portland Police for their assistance at blocking traffic as we were working this emergency incident.

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UPDATE: Suspect In Elephants Delicatessen Fire Arrested - 03/11/26

UPDATE: Suspect in Elephants Delicatessen Fire Arrested

The suspect in the Elephants Delicatessen fire on Tuesday, March 10, 2026, has been arrested. The individual is identified as 56-year-old Catherine E. Stough. She was transported to the Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC) and lodged on the following charges: Reckless Burning and Criminal Mischief in the Second Degree. 

The suspect arrested was using an open flame torch as a light source to view into garbage cans when the flame unintentionally ignited a combustible material inside.

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Portland Fire Investigations Unit Asking For Help In Locating Or Identifying Person Of Interest In Overnight Fire At Elephant's Deli (Photo) - 03/10/26

PPB-PF&R Fire Investigation Unit Looking for Assistance in Identification

At 1 AM on the Morning of March 10, 2026, Portland Fire & Rescue responded to a commercial fire at the Elephant’s Deli at 115 NW 22^nd Avenue in NW Portland. This was a fire that was human caused on the exterior of the structure that extended to the interior of the building and into the elevated roof structure resulting in significant fire damage.

Attached are 3 still images of an individual who may have been involved in the start of the exterior fire or have knowledge of the fire and the Fire Investigation Unit (FIU) is asking for assistance from the community in identifying or locating this individual. If you have any information on the individual pictured here or in the videos posted on the PDXFire X/Twitter account, please reach out to the Portland Fire Tips Hotline at (503) 823-FIRE (3473) or send an email to arsontips@police.portlandoregon.gov.

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PF&R Responds To 2nd Alarm Commercial Fire At Elephants Deli (Photo) - 03/10/26

PF&R responds to 2^nd Alarm Commercial Fire at Elephants Deli

At 1:00 AM, Portland Fire was dispatched to a possible fire at 115 NW 22^nd, 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 22^nd 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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Portland Fire Responds To Fatal Fire At North Portland Safe Rest Village (Photo) - 03/04/26

Portland Fire responds to fatal fire at North Portland Safe Rest Village

At 5:51 PM, the Bureau of Emergency Communications dispatched out a potential fire at the North Portland Road Safe Rest Village with reports of a single living pod on fire. With a visible smoke column or header visible to arriving responders it was reported over the air that this was an obvious working fire.

With numerous callers into dispatch, there were many radio updates being transmitted to responding crews with the most informative message being the pod was “almost completely burned to the ground” at 5:54 PM, just 3 minutes after the crews were dispatched. Engine 26 arrived on scene 2 minutes later at 5:56 PM to confirm the pod was nearly completely consumed by fire. The crew was able to quickly extend a hose and eliminate the remaining fire present with tank water. Other responding engines staged at fire hydrants to establish a supply water if the fire extended to any neighboring living and sleeping pods and more water was needed for extinguishment. Fortunately, the fire was contained to a single pod and was completely extinguished with a small amount of water provided from the on-board tank carried by the first arriving fire engine.

It was confirmed that the occupant of the pod was on the interior and did not survive the fire event. The PF&R – PPB Fire Investigations Unit is on scene performing a forensic evaluation of the pod to discover the cause of the fire. This includes evaluating the pod itself as well as interviewing other residents present and evaluating any available video footage.

It should be noted that staff members present at the site used many handheld fire extinguishers in an attempt and reducing or eliminating the fire prior to the arrival of any PF&R crews. Unfortunately, the fire was too hot and too large to be completely extinguished using the handheld extinguishers.

Further information regarding the identity of the individual and cause of the fire will be released later.

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UPDATED INFORMATION BELOW

Family Notification has occured and we are able to release the identification of the fire victim from the North Porland Road Safe Rest Village pod fire from Monday evening. 

Fire Victim Identification

• Gary Scott Young
• 33 Years Old
• DOB - 05/11/1992

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Portland Fire Responds To Explosion Over The Weekend (Photo) - 02/24/26

Portland Fire responds to Butane Fuel canister explosion.

At just before 8:30 PM on Sunday evening, Portland Fire & Rescue responded to a report of an explosion and potential fire in an apartment complex in the Overlook Neighborhood of N. Portland. The community member calling this into the dispatchers at BOEC indicated driving north on Interstate Avenue when multiple windows were blown out of the building in an apparent explosion.

Crews arrived on scene to investigate the situation to find glass and window framing debris strewn across Interstate Avenue with people standing out in front of the apartment complex. A quick investigation of the apartment in question indicated an active fire protective sprinkler flowing water preventing any active fire growth in the room that had obviously experienced an explosion. Crews investigated the aprtment for fire extension along with checking the adjacent and above living quarters for any additional damage. There was a 44 YO male fire victim in the target apartment who was sent to the Oregon Burn Center with burns covering 15% of his body in stable condition.

The explosion was determined to be the result of a DIY project of refilling a butane lighter. This is the second time in 2 weeks that Portland Fire responded to a butane lighter refill explosion that sent a fire victim to the Oregon Burn Center. Portland Fire would like to remind everyone to always follow all safety information provided in the manufacturers owner’s manual when performing any task involving explosive materials and aggressive fuels. Always perform these tasks in a clean and well-ventilated workspace without the presence of any open flame or heat source.

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