Firefighters are on the scene of a four-alarm fire at an abandoned Northeast Portland building that once housed a Kmart.
Crews arrived at Northeast 122nd Avenue and Sandy Boulevard at around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday to find “heavy fire,” the Portland Fire Bureau said on social media.
The fire sent large plumes of smoke across Northeast Portland Wednesday morning. (Beth Nakamura, The Oregonian/OregonLive)
The fire bureau expressed “concerns of embers landing in the neighborhood and beginning spot fires.” Huge columns of smoke billowed across the neighborhood as firefighters battled the fire, and ash floated across streets blocks from the fire.
Firefighters circled the neighborhood looking for “active embers” to ensure no additional fires started.
“We know this structure,” Portland Fire Bureau spokesperson Rick Graves told The Oregonian/OregonLive. He added: “We’ve known this has been vacate for some time … [with] people gaining occupancy and using it as their home.”
At this time it is not known if anyone was trapped inside the building when the fire started, and there are no known injuries.
Water supply was a “major challenge” in fighting the fire, with few hydrants close to the structure, Graves said.
The cause of the fire is not yet known. An investigation into the blaze has begun, and the fire bureau asks anyone who has information to call 503-823-FIRE.
This post will be updated.
— The Oregonian/OregonLive