Massive fire contained but continues to burn at wood recycling plant in N Portland
PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - Big plumes of smoke filled the sky in North Portland as a two-alarm fire burned at JOPP Energy off North Lombard Street.
A North Portland burned for more than eight hours after it was first called in Thursday morning, and people could smell the smoke from miles away. The fire burned for so long due to the sheer amount of fuel at the wood recycling company.
Crews fought the fire all day, from the air and creating fire breaks using some heavy machinery and excavators that were already on site and were operated by the locations’ employees.
“This morning all of the sudden just started seeing a cloud of smoke and it was getting darker and darker,” said Diane Manser, who lives nearby.
No structures were threatened by the fire.
The fire started in a large pile of recycled wood on the property and with a large amount of fuel to feed the flames, firefighters worked for hours attacking the fire from the air and using an excavator to help knock it down.
JOPP Energy employees worked with the fire companies to create a defensive break in the massive woodpile to contain the fire, after alerting them that there were large amounts of space within the pile.
”We really can’t put anybody on the top of it for fear that someone would, a human, would slip down and into a void space that we’re unaware of,” said Portland Fire & Rescue public information officer Rick Graves. “So right now, we’re just using that heavy equipment, the excavator, to reach in and pull it out. That’s effectively what it’s going to be like. We’re going to separate the pile and begin spreading it out and extinguishing it.”
9-1-1 received multiple calls at about 8:15 a.m. Thursday morning reporting the fire, a single-alarm response team was sent out to the industrial area of the Saint John’s neighborhood.
A second alarm was called at about 9:30 a.m. because of an increased need for water supply. A breeze pushed a lot of the smoke into surrounding neighborhoods, PF&R recommended people living nearby, like Manser, keep their windows closed.
“Common sense said you know to not be out here breathing it,” said Manser.
North Lombard Street was shut down for a part of the morning and into the early afternoon to relay pump water to the scene.
All traffic has been restored to the area. No injuries were reported and no residents have been displaced.
At the height of the fire nine engines were there, five fire trucks, five chief officers, a rehab unit, an investigator, two logistics/apparatus maintenance people, and two public information officers.
Three fire engines and three fire trucks will remain on the scene for an extended period to ensure the fire is extinguished.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
FOX 12 reached out to JOPP Energy about the fire and they declined to comment.
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