Portland Fire & Rescue respond to early AM fire at Portland Mercado Building
Portland Fire was dispatched to a possible commercial fire at 5:37 AM with multiple..."> Portland Fire & Rescue respond to early AM fire at Portland Mercado Building
Portland Fire was dispatched to a possible commercial fire at 5:37 AM with multiple..." /> Portland Fire & Rescue respond to early AM fire at Portland Mercado Building
Portland Fire was dispatched to a possible commercial fire at 5:37 AM with multiple... ">
January 03, 2024 08:40
Portland Fire & Rescue respond to early AM fire at Portland Mercado Building
Portland Fire was dispatched to a possible commercial fire at 5:37 AM with multiple callers reporting hearing explosions and fire present at the Portland Mercado located just east of SE 72nd Ave. and SE Foster. Fire in one of the independent stalls withing the building was showing fire upon arrival. An offensive fire attack was directed. The large open-air building was already filled with smoke upon arrival with dark black smoke pushing out of all sides of the building creating concerns of a large fire within the 6900 square foot structure. A second alarm assignment was requested with fire still present in the ceiling 15 minutes into the incident. All second alarm companies not on scene were turned away shortly after being requested with the fire under control with crews on scene and little concern for any further fire extension. No injuries are reported, and this fire is currently under investigation.
The Portland Mercado property footprint has an external multi-cart food pod and an associated building with a large open common area with independent businesses occupying stalls along the perimeter allowing patrons to purchase food and wares on the outside or within the stalls and share time together in the central common space area. The initial fire was contained to a single independent stall that was easily accessed from the Foster Street side of the structure. Early fire suppression from the first arriving companies went smoothly with an offensive fire attack directed to be supported by a back-up handheld hose line. The primary search of the structure indicated that there was no one on the interior of the building. As crews were applying water on the fire and searching the building a successful water supply was established from the closest hydrant located across the street prompting the complete closure of Foster Road for the safety of the working crews along with protecting the water supply hose lines running across the traffic lanes. Crews were working on ventilating the large area to investigate if the fire had spread from the primary seat of the fire to other areas of the building. Crews were heightened in their investigation with black smoke still pushing out of areas away from the primary fire location visible on a perimeter walk around inspection performed by crews on scene. Reports of improved smoke conditions indicated good extinguishment as the secondary search of the structure was completed verifying that there was not anyone inside the building. The crews were now focused on ventilating the smoke to improve internal visibility to be certain the fire did not extend into other areas of the building.
Roof ventilation crews discovered active fire hidden in odd void spaces within the ceiling prompting a second alarm assignment to be requested by the command officer to be certain to have enough firefighters on scene to address the large building with potential hidden fire spread throughout the ceiling portion of the structure. The ceiling had internal layers of both plywood and metal sheeting that made access from below difficult to expose the void spaces overhead. This forced crews to be more aggressive from the roof by opening more access holes using saws and applying water from the roof position. The fire was significantly extinguished prior to the arrival of most of the second alarm companies with all non-assigned companies turned back to their home fire stations prior to arrival.
Methodical roof cutting to expose adjacent ceiling void spaces was performed to be certain that fire extinguishment was complete with the crew from yesterday’s graduating class of the Portland Fire Training Academy performing much of the extended roof work. Complete extinguishment occurred just after 30 minutes into the incident. With the end of the fire occurring near the AM shift change, new crews were arriving on scene to take over for the off going working crew as the emergency incident was winding down. There were no reported injuries. Portland Fire & Rescue Investigation Team is on scene trying to determine cause.
PF&R would like to thank Portland BOEC and Portland Police in their help during this incident along with the power company for their assistance as well. Foster Road is open in both directions with reduced lane availability.
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