Vacant shack burns in outer East Portland cemetery

INCLUDES VERY LONG HOSE AND AFTERMATH VIDEO | See what was learned while reporting this unusual blaze, from inside Lincoln Memorial Park; the incident closed down SE Mt. Scott Boulevard in Lents for most of Friday afternoon …

Smoke from the hill inside Lincoln Memorial Park – and the water line hoses going up the driveway – point the way to where this fire was burning.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

A blaze in Lincoln Memorial Park, along SE Mt. Scott Boulevard in unincorporated Multnomah County – directly across the street from the Lents neighborhood – caught the attention of passers-by on Friday afternoon, November 1.

Seeing a thick plume of smoke issuing from the back of the cemetery, neighbors and workers at the cemetery called the 9-1-1 Center to reporting a suspected fire.

After pulling in a water line, moments before it’s pressurized, firefighters prepare to fight the fire as this building burns. PF&R image

Portland Fire & Rescue (PF&R) and Clackamas County Fire District #1 (CCFD) crews were dispatched to the fire at 1:29 p.m. As the two-person crew riding PF&R Lents Station 11’s Rescue rig got close, they reported back to dispatch seeing a substantial “header” (plume of smoke) coming from the cemetery.

Watch our video – which shows what it took to put out this fire; and see the aftermath of the blaze:

Arriving firefighters were directed to the “lower” entrance of Lincoln Memorial Park, across from SE 105th Avenue.

Soon, SE Mt. Scott Boulevard was closed off by a Portland Police Bureau patrol car, protecting a water line (hose) hooked up to PF&R Mill Park Station’s Engine No. 7 at a hydrant on the north side of the street, and extending across the street, then south and into the cemetery.

Thanks to recent heavy rains, greenery around this burning structure isn’t catching fire – but crews keep spraying down nearby trees and shrubs to make sure they don’t ignite. PF&R image

Engine No. 7 was pumping water into a huge, 4-inch water supply line – placed by a Clackamas County Fire District #1 (CCFD) Engine Company 306’s crew – which snaked in through the cemetery’s gate, and ran up the steep driveway to where the CCFD Engine had parked, and was operating its pump.

This firefighter, with PF&R Lents Station 11, shoots water into the side of the burning building, while another crew member points out active fire still inside the structure.

That engine was “relay pumping” the water in the huge hose line further up the driveway PF&R Engine 29 – and, from there, over to the fire scene.

PF&R had also dispatched a “water tender” rig to supply additional water, which turned out not to be needed. “We’ve got plenty of water flow and pressure coming in from the PF&R engine below, about 157 psi,” commented the firefighter engineer operating CCFD Engine No. 1.

Additional firefighters attack the fire, spraying water into the front of the burning fire, knocking down the flames. PF&R image

The hose line exited the driveway, where it makes a 160° bend, and led back some distance over a rutted and unpaved path to what was, in the past, a caretaker’s house – a structure that firefighters found totally ablaze.

“Due to volume of the fire, and with no other exposures [other things that might catch on fire], and with this building already collapsing in on itself, our only concern now is keeping the fire out of nearby brush,” explained PF&R Public Information Officer Sean Whalen. “Crews were able to do this with the water inside the tank of the arriving engine.”

Crews use their “Pike Poles” to pull apart the front of the building, exposing fire hidden inside the walls.

Complicating the firefight at first, electric power lines running to the building appeared to be energized. A Portland General Electric “Eagle” truck’s lineman arrived, and determined that the power had in fact been cut off to the structure, Whalen told East Portland News.

Crews stayed at the scene for hours, making sure all the remaining embers had been completely extinguished before they left.

A PF&R Fire Investigator (far left) joins firefighters and starts looking for evidence of what might have started the conflagration. The PGE lineman (far right) has just given the “all clear” that electricity has been disconnected from the building.

Two firefighters, at different times, suggested that this fire may have been caused by “unauthorized inhabitants” in the structure.

It’s possible; the now-charred ruins are located near the Veteran’s Hiking Trail which runs through the Veterans Creek Natural Area near SE 98th Avenue, up to the crater rim of Mt. Scott, and runs past the razed structure.

With the fire out, some firefighters begin the long hike back to their rigs.

“At this time, this fire remains under investigation,” Whalen remarked. “And, PF&R is grateful for Clackamas County Fire District #1 being very helpful with our water supply in this incident.”

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