Fire at abandoned building in NE Portland determined to be human-caused

PORTLAND, Ore. (KPTV) - Investigators have determined a fire that started in an abandoned commercial building late Tuesday night was human-caused.

Just after 11 p.m., Portland Fire & Rescue crews were called out to a fire in the area of Northeast 102nd Avenue and Northeast Pacific Street. Crews arrived and found an abandoned, fenced off two-story building that was fully involved.

Karin Whiklund watched in fear as the abandoned building went up in flames. Her apartment building is located just one empty lot away from the fire.

“Very close to home, that’s what we were concerned about. That it would jumped from the building, to the grass and from there directly to our apartments,” she said. “There are 144 units over there, so many, many people could have been harmed.”

PF&R said firefighters attacked the fire from the exterior by cutting holes in the roof and using water from a ladder truck.

There are no known injuries from the fire. PF&R said there were reports of people running from the scene before crews arrived.

Whiklund says she is grateful that there were no injuries, as she says the area has seen several fires recently.

The building is not structurally sound for investigators to do a comprehensive investigation of the cause, however PF&R said the arson investigator on scene stated the fire was human-caused.

No additional details have been released at this time.

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