Federal investigators are looking into the cause of a fire at a Gresham pregnancy center last week apparently caused when someone threw an incendiary device through a window. No one was hurt.
First Image, the organization that owns the center, said in a post on its website that the device and fire set off alarms about 3 a.m. last Friday.
Damage was extensive but mostly contained to one room, according to the post. A photo on the website shows a charred office space with peeling walls and debris on the floor.
Officials at the organization didn’t immediately return messages for comment.
The Portland field office of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is assisting Gresham police and fire investigators, the ATF said in a tweet.
The ATF considers the fire suspicious, said Jason Chudy, an agency spokesperson in the Seattle field division.
First Image offers alternatives to abortion and owns two other centers, in Southeast Portland and Beaverton.
“Arson is particularly violent and destructive, and it compromises a sense of safety for our team and for the people we serve,” the organization’s post said. “On top of that, this will require temporary closure to make repairs.”
First Image said its Southeast Portland center was vandalized in May when someone broke windows on one side of the building and spray-painted hateful messages on the wall.
A pregnancy center in Vancouver unrelated to First Image also was vandalized last Wednesday, according to a spokesperson for the Options 360 Women’s Clinic and KOIN TV.
–Zaeem Shaikh; mshaikh@oregonian.com; 503-221-8111; @zaeemshake
