A grease fire at Shin Shin Foods spread throughout the building, threatening to collapse the structure. Everyone inside got out unharmed.
PORTLAND, Ore. — A fire broke out at a warehouse on the east side of the Willamette River, just by Interstate 5. The fire produced a highly visible column of black smoke over the city.
A call came in for the fire around 4:04 p.m. from the 400 block of North Thompson Street, which is in an industrial area just north of the Portland Public Schools main offices and south of Swan Island.
The source of the fire was a two-story commercial building operated by noodle company Shin Shin Foods, Portland Fire and Rescue spokesman Rick Graves told KGW. PF&R said that the fire was a grease fire that started in an elevated commercial size hood vent.
Though it began as a grease fire call, flames spread throughout the building. Arriving fire crews called for a second alarm, and Graves said that there may be a third alarm. The fire was eventually elevated to a four alarm fire.
The first crews were able to connect to a fire hydrant and stretch the hose to the inside of the building with fire and smoke coming out of the crack in the outside brick walls.
Companies on-scene were putting water into windows and from above with ladder trucks. However, Graves said, there were few hydrants in the area, forcing fire crews to pump water from further away.
PF&R said at one point, one of the aerial ladders was lowered to the ground level and was flowing nearly 2000 gallons a minute alone into the structure.
PF&R felt confident that the flames wouldn’t spread to nearby buildings, but the Shin Shin Foods warehouse is an old building and fire crews were prepared for structural collapse. Firefighters were being kept out of the “fall zone” and were not being sent inside.
There are 65 people who work in the building, but everyone got out unharmed.
PF&R fire investigations unit will be working with the Shin Shin Foods warehouse owner’s representative during the investigation.
PHOTOS: Portland warehouse fire
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