Discover why this outer East Portland blaze, initially dispatched as a ‘two-alarm’ fire, was over quickly at this health care facility …
A fire erupted in this Hazelwood neighborhood care facility, in the room of a resident in which many oxygen bottles were located.
By David F. Ashton
The system that triggered sounding fire claxons and flashing emergency strobes in the Firwood Gardens Memory Care and Assisted Living facility at 819 NE 122nd Avenue on Sunday afternoon, September 28, also sent a “Fire—Commercial” dispatch to Portland Fire & Rescue (PF&R), via the 9-1-1 Center.
As the staff started moving patients out of the building, PF&R Mill Park Station 7’s Engine Company, a few blocks south of the facility, was the first to arrive. Their four-person crew split into pairs, one of them searching a reported smoke-filled hallway, the other setting up water hose lines to fight the fire.
Residents are evacuated as and after the fire alarm sounds, while a hallway fills with smoke.
The first-arriving battalion chief requested a second alarm response, adding another 26 firefighters and a chief to the incident. Crews were challenged in placing in water lines while maneuvering among residents who were using canes, walkers, and wheelchairs as they left the building.
Soon, NE 122nd Avenue was closed to all traffic, from Glisan to Halsey Streets, as it filled with fire trucks and engines, and their water line hoses.
A water line hose has been pulled into the building to fight the fire; others are pulled off rigs to be ready in case the fire erupts out of the burning room and into the facility.
With dense smoke filling the affected hallway down to the floor, firefighters located the burning apartment. After they forced the door open, thick dark smoke erupted from the room. Using a “fan spray nozzle”, spraying a thick mist of water, a crew member was able to advance into the room and extinguish the fire, burning on the bed.
“This room had a number of oxygen bottles used for the respiratory assistance,” PF&R Public Information Officer Rick Graves told reporters.
“As the fire was being extinguished, firefighters discovered the resident was still on the bed where most amount of fire was present. The ‘nozzle team’ and truck officer quickly grabbed the victim and carried the victim outside to be quickly transported to the Emanuel Burn Center by ambulance, with life-threatening injuries.”
After the fire has been extinguished, crews “circle up” to review their response to this fire.
Fortunately, the working in-house fire safety sprinkler system confined the fire to that single apartment, and kept the fire from spreading throughout the structure.
With the fire extinguished, and the burn victim removed, the crews helped remove some of the water from the building and reactivated the alarm system.
The cause of the fire is under investigation by the PF&R Fire Investigations Unit. Two investigators performed a physical forensic evaluation of the apartment room, and interviewed staff members. Their findings are not yet available.
Photos by Portland Fire & Rescue
© 2025 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™
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