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Explosion sets off fire in two homes in Northwest Portland

Portland Fire said they were responding to two homes on fire in the Northwest Heights neighborhood. Smoke and large flames could be seen coming from one home.

PORTLAND, Oregon — Fire crews responded Thursday morning to two homes on fire in Portland's Northwest Heights neighborhood, sparked by an explosion in one of the homes, firefighters said.

Portland Fire and Rescue and Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue were called around 10 a.m. to a report of an explosion at Burkhardt Court, which branches off from Northwest Mill Pond Road a short distance north of Mill Pond Park. 

Crews arrived and confirmed the explosion in one home, and saw that the fire had fully engulfed the home and spread to the home next door, said Jake Gartland, a public information officer for Portland Fire. He added there are no known injuries. 

Visible smoke and flames could be seen pouring out of most of the second story of one of the houses at around 10:30 a.m., and part of the structure appeared to have already been reduced to charred timbers. Debris could also be seen in the street.

A large column of smoke could be seen coming from the site in video shot from the balcony of a home several blocks away and shared with KGW.

Crews began applying water to the fire and were able to keep it from spreading beyond the two homes. Ladder trucks were brought in to spray water from above, PF&R said in a news release Thursday afternoon.

Credit: John Carney
A screenshot from a video shot by neighbor John Carney shows the fire from a distance.

Portland Fire & Rescue tweeted just after 11 a.m. that the fire was out and some fire crew resources were leaving, but others were staying and the scene remained active.

The cause of the explosion is not yet known, Gartland said, and the extent of the damage to the second house is also unknown. Fire investigators will remain at the scene for "quite a while," he said.

Natural gas utility provider NW Natural also responded to the scene and was working Thursday afternoon to make sure all gas service in the area was secure, according to the PF&R news release. NW Natural later said in a statement that its crews had "completed surveys of the pipeline system in the area to verify its integrity."

The incident was a 2-alarm fire, he said, meaning additional resources were sent to the scene after the initial crews were dispatched. The winding road and relatively remote location made it more challenging for fire crews to get to the site quickly, he said.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

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