Transients flee as closed-down Mill Park bar erupts in fire

A two-Alarm outer East Portland fire shut down major intersection throughout rush hour last Friday. Here’s what officials are saying …

A fire of yet-undisclosed origin blazed fiercely in trhe shuttered Magic Inn on SE 122nd Avenue, a block south of Stark Street. Courtesy KOIN-TV News

By David F. Ashton

No one can seem to remember just when the Magic Inn, a “dive bar” at 619 SE 122nd Avenue, actually closed for good. But the establishment, just north of the Midland Library campus, had apparently become a “squatter’s haven” since it went out of business.

On September 6 at 5:09 p.m. Portland Fire & Rescue crews were sent to a “Commercial Fire” there, when many people called the 9-1-1 Center to report it.

A ‘second alarm’ brings more firefighters to the scene; squatters’ belongings are scattered in the foreground. PF&R image

The first to arrive was a PF&R Battalion Chief who reported heavy fire bursting from the second floor; the commander called for a “second alarm” at 5:12 p.m. because of the extremely hot weather, the prevailing wind, and the size of the flames already leaping from the structure.

“We’ve recently done a ‘walk through’ of this bar and restaurant, and it’s permanently closed, and should be vacant,” radioed a crew member of PF&R Mill Park Station 7’s Engine Company – located less than a half-mile south on SE 122nd Avenue.

The PF&R Parkrose Training Station #2’s Ladder Truck Company crew uses its aerial ladder to direct a powerful stream of water down onto the fire. Courtesy KOIN-TV News

Another arriving rig commented that “transients were fleeing from the burning building as we pulled up”.

With the fire now burning dangerously, crews set up a “defensive fire attack” on the inferno. Two trucks raised their onboard aerial ladder, with hose and nozzle charged, and sprayed high-volume water streams into the building.

It soon became clear they one hydrant nearby didn’t provide a sufficient water supply; The next closest hydrant was diagonally across the intersection of SE 122nd Avenue and Stark Street.

Hose lines, running across the SE 122nd Avenue and Stark Street, provide needed water, but close down the intersection to all traffic.

To protect the extended hose lines, the intersection was completely shut down to all traffic. Along eastbound SE Stark Street, rush-hour traffic backed up to the I-205 Freeway. The usually-busy intersection was completely closed until about 8 p.m.

Additional firefighters pulled hose lines, shooting water into exterior openings to knock down the heavy flames — and to keep the fire from spreading to any other nearby structures. This kept “Mr. Peep’s The Peep Hole Adult Superstore” on one side, and Don Pedro Mexican Restaurant on the other, from also igniting.

After putting out the bulk of the fire, crews pull apart the rubble looking for any embers to quench. PF&R Image

Crews then spent the next couple of hours putting out hot spots, spraying the burned structure down, and using tools to help dig into an area of the building over which the roof had partially collapsed.

There were no reports of injuries. And, as is usually the case, “The cause of the fire is still under investigation” a PF&R official reported.

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