Abandoned house set ablaze, in Centennial

Arson investigators aren’t releasing details, but find out what neighbors think was cause of the fire …

Firefighters arrive, and find this boarded-up house in flames. Dick Harris, PF&R photo

By David F. Ashton
9-1-1 calls started coming in shortly after 2 p.m. on June 27, about a house on fire near the outer East Portland Fred Meyer shopping center in the Centennial neighborhood.

Portland Fire & Rescue (PF&R) crews headed toward the blaze on SE 145^th Avenue, between SE Division and SE Clinton Street, at 2: 16 p.m.

“The Mill Park Station Engine 7 arrived first,” PF&R Public Information Officer Lt. Rich Chatman told East Portland News. “The crew found flames coming from the boarded-up front windows of the one-story residence.”

Once inside, fire crews work to extinguish the fire. Dick Harris, PF&R photo

Firefighters learned that there was a possible fire victim, Chatman said. Crews broke in the front security door of the abandoned house, heavily covered with graffiti, but found nobody inside.

“The crews of Engine 7 and Engine 31 handled the fire attack,” Chatman noted. “Truck 7 cut the roof, and provided vertical ventilation.”

On the roof of the burning house, firefighters cut open the roof, providing “vertical ventilation”, removing heat and smoke from the structure. Dick Harris, PF&R photo

Investigators have yet to release a cause, or damage estimate; the fire remains under investigation.

“Druggies have been hanging out in the house,” confided Damien Williams, who later stood looking at the smouldering house, near where he said he lived. “One of them probably accidently set the fire, when they were firing up their dope.”

Once the fire has been extinguished, inside the house, fire crews pull down the ceiling, looking for fire between floors, and in the walls. Dick Harris, PF&R photo

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