A fire Wednesday night destroyed an abandoned North Portland building that once housed The Farmer’s Barn Tavern.
Portland Fire & Rescue arrived at the North Denver Avenue property at about 7:30 p.m. Flames had already engulfed the building, pouring out from boarded-up windows and pushing through cracks in the cinderblock walls, the fire bureau said. Firefighters attacked the blaze from above, and crews eventually were able to enter the building to search it.
Portland Fire & Rescue had electricity to the area shut off for about 90 minutes because “flames grew so large at one point that the power lines were being impinged upon,” the fire bureau said.
The building was on the fire bureau’s “unsafe” list – firefighters had doused eight fires there in the past 12 months. Police also responded to the property numerous times during that period for various threats, disturbances and welfare checks.
The city repeatedly instructed the building owner to clean up debris and remove the electrical meter, as well as to board-up the property to “keep your building secured from the houseless activity.”
The tavern closed in 2018.
Residents of the neighborhood showed up at a January city council meeting to plead for more help addressing the problems at the property.
No injuries from Wednesday’s fire have been reported at this time. Investigators are on the scene to determine the fire’s cause.
Reporter Shane Dixon Kavanaugh contributed to this report.
— The Oregonian/OregonLive; dperry@oregonian.com