UPDATED - 9-1-1 TAPES RELEASED

February 20, 2012

2:14 PM

Portland Fire & Rescue has allowed the release of the 911 audio. A public records request should be forwarded to the Bureau of Emergency Communications.

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UPDATED WITH VICTIM'S NAME & PHOTOS

February 20, 2012

9:19 AM

The victims name is John Michael Summers age 57.

Click here to view Portland Fire & Rescue's specialty team personnel response to the confined space/hazmat incident at 5949 N. Basin Avenue.

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February 19, 2012

4:39 PM

At 10:05 a.m., Portland Fire & Rescue was called to rescue a man who had fallen into a chemical holding tank on a barge at 5949 N Basin Ave. Station 24 (Overlook/Swan Island) arrived first at 10:10 a.m. and determined that a 57-year old male was missing from the barge.

Due to the nature of the emergency, Portland Fire and Rescue’s Hazmat Team and Technical Rescue Team were called to help. Firefighters found a rope that led into an open hatch that covered a chemical holding tank. The other employee on the barge indicated that he had seen the man near the hatch and then turned away. When he looked back, the man was missing. The tank was approximately 40 x 50 feet and approximately 20 feet deep. There was 12 feet of liquid Lignin Amine in the tank. This is a toxic and corrosive material used in agriculture.

The air above the liquid inside the tank had an oxygen level of less than 1 percent and a level of CO of 108 ppm. That level of oxygen will cause a person to pass out within a minute and die soon thereafter(outside air has 21 percent oxygen). With this information, Portland Fire and Rescue determined that this was going to be a body recovery, not a rescue.

Portland Fire and Rescue worked with the remaining employee to pump the liquid from the tank into another holding tank. This process took about an hour. In the mean time, firefighters confirmed that the male had not left the work site or fallen into the river. The Technical Rescue Team and Hazmat Team worked together to create and implement a plan to enter the tank if necessary. After approximately 40 minutes, firefighters could see that the man was in fact in the tank and deceased. The employee finished pumping out the hazardous liquid and firefighters readied to enter the tank and recover the victim.

At 1:03 p.m., the first technical rescuer entered the tank in a hazmat suit put on by the Hazmat Team. The rescue team consisted of two people trained in Confined Space Rescue. The second rescue team is available to rescue the firefighters who first entered the tank. The Hazmat Team prepared to decontaminate the rescue teams and the victim once they exited the tank. Due to the hazardous nature of the recovery, both specialty teams needed all trained personnel to accomplish the mission. Besides the hazardous liquid, the hatch into the tank was only approximately 20 inches across. The rescue team was in the tank for 44 minutes to recover the man. The incident was over at 1:49 p.m.

Other agencies that responded to the incident are Portland Police, Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, United States Coast Guard and Oregon OSHA, and AMR. All the hazardous liquid was contained on the barge and none entered the lagoon. No other injuries occurred during this incident to either civilians or firefighters.

  Portland Fire & Rescue

Last December, Chapman Elementary held a “Mad Men” themed auction to raise money for two of the school’s organizations: the Chapman Elementary School Parent Teachers Association (PTA) and the Chapman Educational Foundation. The PTA provides financial support for classrooms and outreach to children in need, while the Chapman Educational Foundation uses its money to hire teachers whose positions would be eliminated because of state and local budget cuts. 

For the auction, Portland firefighters from Station 3 (Northwest/Pearl District) donated a soccer game followed by a pizza party at the station. During the auction, the firefighter’s donation brought in $800.00 at $40 a student.  

On Friday, February 17^th firefighters brought their "A-shift" game to Chapman Field. They played eight firefighters against 20 students, ranging from five years to nine years old. Both teams played tough, but the students won out with a game score of 3 to 2. 

Firefighters hosted the students and their adult chaperones at the station afterward, providing pizza and refreshments, a station tour, fire safety talk, and show and tell of the fire engine and truck. 

Students were even able to spray water with the booster line from the engine! 

“Judging from the smiles on their faces,” noted Station 3 Lieutenant Justin De Ruyter, “I gather that they had a good time.  Everyone at the station had a really good time as well and we all look forward to doing it again next year!”

  Portland Fire & Rescue

Incident Statistics: 

Total Incidents: 1,229

Medical: 982

Fire: 48

Other: 199

Major Incidents: 4

• 02/14/12@ 0929 hrs, Residential Fire, 7000 block of N Vincent Ave. Loss: $75,000   Cause: Undetermined
• 02/14/12@ 1041 hrs, Residential Fire, 4400 block of SE Francis St.  Loss: $26,500 Cause: Combustibles to close to chimney flue
• 02/16/12@ 0505 hrs, Residential Fire, 1300 block of NE 111^th Ave. One civilian fatality Loss: $150,000 Cause: Nearby combustibles ignited by fireplace
• 02/18/12@ 0354 hrs, Residential Fire, 400 block of N Failing St. One civilian fatality
• Loss: $60,000 Cause: Under Investigation

  Portland Fire & Rescue 

February 21, 2012

8:52 PM

Video footage by Paul Corah, Portland Fire & Rescue's Public Information Officer

At around 5:15 pm, Portland Fire & Rescue was dispatched to reports of a vehicle on fire at the Shell gas station located at S.E. Cesar Chavez and Gladstone.  A man stopped to get gas and was about to leave the station after filling up when he noticed smoke coming from the engine compartment of his van.  He pulled the 1995 Mercury Villager van to the side of the gas station and called 9-1-1. 

Firefighters from Portland Fire Station 25 (Woodstock) arrived within minutes and found that the van's hood latch had burned through preventing them from lifting the hood.  Using about 50 gallons of water, firefighters were able to contain the blaze to the van. Within 20 minutes, the engine crew picked up their hoses and returned back into service for the next call.

Portland Fire & Rescue responds to hundreds of vehicle fires each year.  Although most are easily contained, it is important to remember that motor vehicles are constructed with a variety of synthetic, and often flammable materials, that burn very hot. Gasoline and other flammable fluids are also present.  Gasoline was a factor in tonight's incident because the fire burned through the van's fuel line, which fed the fire until firefighters could get the upper hand with hose lines.

Portland Fire & Rescue wants to take this opportunity to remind citizens that if the hood or dash on your vehicle begins smoking, pull over and turn off the engine.  Move quickly away from a burning automobile and remain at a safe distance; then call 9-1-1.  If there are visible flames in the engine compartment, do not raise the hood as it could flash over and cause you serious injury.  Instead, wait for the fire department at a safe distance from your car.

  Portland Fire & Rescue

February 22, 2012

1:23 PM

At 9:55 am, the crew of Portland Fire Station 21 (Eastbank/Hawthorne) was performing maintenance on the Eldon Trinity rescue boat, which is moored at the dock just below the station next to the Eastbank Esplanade.

Their work was interrupted when a person began yelling from the top of the Hawthorne Bridge above them that someone had just jumped off the bridge.  Firefighters scanned the water below where the person was pointing and saw a man splashing in the water and moving quickly away with the river’s current. 

The crew immediately started the engines and untied the boat from the dock.  By the time they maneuvered the boat away from the dock, the man had moved about 200 yards down river.

Firefighters on the Station 21 Eldon Trinity rescue boat called for additional resources from the other side of the river.  Within seconds, firefighters from Portland Fire Station 1 (Old Town) responded from the west side of the Willamette River with two rescue ski doos. 

Within a minute or two, crews were next the man in the river yelling for help.  The Eldon Trinity lowered the bow ramp in front of the boat, enabling firefighters to reach down into the water and slide the man on board.  

In water rescues, people often have traumatic injuries to their limbs, back, and neck.  The ability to ease patients into the boat without further exacerbating their injuries is essential.  The front loading ramp also accommodates four wheel rescue vehicles which can be transported on the boat for rescues in remote areas of the Columbia River.

The 45-year-old man was treated by Portland firefighter/paramedics and transported to a nearby hospital with non-life threatening injuries. 

"This is one of the fastest water rescues I have ever seen," said Portland Fire Battalion Chief Tom Williams.  "Firefighters who were in the right place at the right time were able to mobilize their resources and rescue this man in minutes."

Portland Fire urges individuals who are depressed or suicidal, or think someone you know is, to seek help from available resources.  Contact the Suicide Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) for free, confidential crisis intervention and referral services.

  Portland Fire & Rescue