Lunch Rush for Portland Fire Crews

Multiple Fire Incidents Reported

Boom Boom Ballon's (Photo Courtesy of Portland Fire & Rescue)

On Friday, August 15, Portland Fire crews had a busy lunch rush with several incidents coming in simultaneously. It all started with a fire in a business at 2739 N Lombard Ave. Boom Boom Ballon's, a party supply business, caught on fire and was called in right at noon. First alarm crews found fire coming from the front door on arrival.  They were able to make a strong push and contain the fire to just the one business. This took coordinated efforts from many companies as the attic space above Boom Boom Ballons is shared with several other businesses.  Preventing the fire from spreading horizontally was a success, and the neighboring businesses will only have to deal with smoke damage. The cause of this fire is still under investigation and there were no injuries.

While crews were working in North Portland, a residential fire was dispatched in SE Portland near 114 and Powell. A couple minutes later, a rescue call came in for an individual that had fallen from a roof near SE Yamhill and Water Ave. And 15 minutes after that, a high rise fire was called in downtown Portland at 1705 SW 11th Ave.

The rescue call near SE Yamhill and Water Ave was for a worker who was hanging a banner over the edge of the building.  He fell from the upper roof to a lower section below, about 20 feet. When crews made contact with the patient, he was alert and oriented.  He was packaged in a stokes basket and brought down Truck 1's aerial ladder.  The reason he was brought down in this manner is to provide for all spinal precautions since he had fallen from such a distance. He was transported to OHSU for evaluation. 

A second alarm working fire, a residential box response, a rope rescue, and a high rise box response account for more then 3/4 of Portland Fire engines, trucks and chiefs responding to emergency calls within an hour. Both the high rise and residential fires turned out to be false alarms, just burned food and some smoke mitigation. But this all accounts for a busy afternoon for Portland Fire crews.