Two badly hurt, five displaced, and an empty, boarded-up home blazing again in outer East Portland, as investigators probe the cause …
Firefighters work quickly to knock down the blaze behind this Brentwood–Darlington home. PF&R image
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
A pre-dawn residential fire in the Brentwood–Darlington neighborhood on Wednesday, July 15, at about 6:50 a.m. drew a large Portland Fire & Rescue (PF&R) response to 7604 S.E. 65th Avenue, just south of S.E. Flavel Street, after reports of people trapped in a burning house.
Dispatchers coded the call as a “Structure Fire – Trapped in Fire – Residential.” Lents Station 11’s engine company arrived first and reported heavy fire and thick black smoke at the back of the house, with the rear porch burning and a propane tank venting flammable gas.
Neighbors up and down the block watched from sidewalks and porches as crews poured water into the flames and medics worked in the street.
Continuing the firefight to save this house from burning to the ground, crews spray water into the back side of the structure. PF&R image
Chaos before dawn, and a ‘problem house’ on the block
A neighbor who lives about four houses away told East Portland News that the residents of the home had once seemed blend into the neighborhood.
“They were friendly up until about a year ago,” the neighbor recounted. “But more people moved in, and since then it’s been a problem house.”
Several nearby residents independently reported that people at the address shot off fireworks “every single night before and after July 4 – right up until the night before the fire” that broke out on the morning of Wednesday, July 15.
Another neighbor reported hearing “yelling, screaming, and cussing coming from the house” at about 6:45 a.m. that morning, shortly before the first fire response summoned fire trucks onto S.E. 65th Avenue.
Looking into the charred house through a front window, it’s clear this fast‑moving fire devastated the interior.
One woman in the backyard had burns on her legs. As some firefighters advanced hose lines on the rear and side of the house, others pushed inside for an aggressive knockdown, watching turbulent black smoke billowing from the attic. Additional water lines were stretched around the home to protect neighboring structures.
A medical group set up at the scene assessed and treated multiple patients. PF&R later confirmed that two people were transported by ambulance to a local hospital in critical condition. In all, four adults and one child were displaced by the fire.
Dressed in a “bunny suit,” a PF&R investigator documents the interior with a camera inside the fire‑damaged house.
Propane tank pulled from inside the home
Woodstock Station 25’s ladder truck crew searched the first floor and basement and reported all clear. Within about 40 minutes, incident commanders “recalled” the firefighting – but kept units at the scene scene for “overhaul”, and support. A rehab unit arrived to assist firefighters rotating out of the heat.
Volunteers from the American Red Cross Cascades Region responded to assist the four adults and one child who lost their home.
Smoke still vents from holes cut in the roof that fire crews used to reach and extinguish attic flames in the first fire.
Crews from Clackamas Fire District No. 1’s North Battalion also joined PF&R companies, helping to bring the blaze under control and check for any extensions.
One nearby resident told East Portland News that a PF&R official described an additional hazard that crews confronted as they arrived: According to that neighbor, the official reported that when the first crew members reached the burning house, a propane tank was found inside the burning house. Firefighters moved it outside and vented it, to keep it from exploding.
Inside the burned‑out structure, a PF&R fire investigator radios findings to colleagues at the scene.
Investigators treated the first blaze like a homicide case
Five PF&R fire investigators converged on the charred structure to determine how the blaze began.
PF&R Public Information Officer and Fire Inspector Christine Pezzulo explained that five investigators responded because any fire causing severe injuries or potential fatalities “is treated like a homicide investigation”. She reported that one cat in the home did not survive, but no human fatalities were reported in this case.
The cause of the initial fire remained under investigation as the damaged house sat boarded up, and quiet – for barely two days.
Same gutted house catches fire – again
At the second fire at this same house, two days later, firefighters from Ladder Truck 7 again open up the roof, chasing hidden flames in the blackened attic.
On Friday, July 17, at 9:37 a.m., dispatchers again sent firefighting crews to 7604 S.E. 65th Avenue with the same dispatch description – yes, it was the same house that had burned on Wednesday.
Again, crews from Clackamas Fire District No. 1’s North Battalion responded, alongside PF&R rigs from Woodstock Station 25, to the charred and boarded-up structure.
Pezzulo again responded to East Portland News with details about this second fire. She reported that the home had been boarded and secured after “overhaul” operations, so “there were no people inside, and no suspicious activity was reported.”
With the rekindled fire extinguished, firefighters stand down outside the charred house.
Rekindled … or something else?
With neighbors on edge after two fires in three days, questions turned quickly to what could have caused the second blaze.
Asked whether the new fire involved spontaneous combustion or a rekindled hot spot from the first incident several days earlier, Pezzulo allowed that “it’s quite possible that a hot spot resurfaced, but the investigation is ongoing.”
Neighbors raised concerns about fireworks and prior activity at the house, telling East Portland News the residents set off a large quantity of fireworks, night after night, on and after July 4. When asked whether fireworks might be connected to the blaze, Pezzulo did not respond directly, but emphasized that investigators had not yet reached a final conclusion.
“Again, this fire remains under investigation,” she reiterated.
After the second fire is extinguished, PF&R Fire Chief Lauren Johnson confers with Division Chief Andy Ponce and other officials at the scene.
As of publication, PF&R investigators were still working to determine the cause of both fires at the address, while neighbors were left near a blackened shell of a house – and with lingering questions about how a once-quiet house turned into a chronic problem, and, finally, a two‑time fire scene.
Front Page image courtesy of Portland Fire & Rescue
© 2026 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™
