Portland, OR. – Official Release: At 11:21 pm on March 4, 2025 PF&R crews were dispatched to a reported commercial fire at the former Peninsula Children’s Center at 4720 N Maryland Ave. This building, which takes up almost an entire city block, is currently being demolished under the leadership of Home Forward to build affordable housing per a Home Forward representative on scene.
Upon their arrival 2 minutes later, the first arriving crew Engine 24 reported heavy fire coming from a covered play area on the left side of the building, and they stretched hose lines to begin fire attack on this portion of the structure. After getting a good knock down on this portion of the fire, Engine 24 reported that the fire had extended into the structure. At 11:28, Truck 8 reported that heavy fire was blowing out of the second floor of the building and a second alarm was called by incident command one minute later to bring more resources to the scene to address this expanding fire problem.
At 11:32, Engine 14 report that fire was coming through the right side of the roof. In anticipation of the need for a possible defensive attack on this fire–with hose streams from aerial ladders–in the event the roof or the structure was weakened, and the structure was too dangerous for an interior attack, ladder trucks were positioned on three sides of the building and water supplies were established at three separate hydrants. The incident commander determined that the building was stable enough for an initial interior attack and several crews stretched hose lines into the interior of the building, where they found smoke and minimal heat on the first floor and heavy fire on the stairwell up to the second story. These crew simultaneously began interior fire attack and search and rescue operations.
Upon reaching the second story of the structure, crews found heavy fire in the vaulted ceiling space on the second floor that was burning through the attic space. Vaulted ceilings are an area of concern in these fires, as the large open space allows for heavy fire accumulation and spread. At 11:48, the Squad 1 crew reported that the bulk of the interior fire in the vaulted ceiling space and in the second-floor stairwell was knocked down, however they reported that the roof above was still on fire. A hose line was then brought to the roof and several ladder truck crews extinguished this roof fire. At 11:52, a battalion chief reported that the fire was under control, with crews still checking for additional extension and any hidden fire. Incident command recalled the incident at 12:24 am, with several companies remaining on scene working.
There were no injuries at this fire and investigators from PF&R’s Fire Investigations Unit are on scene working to determine a cause
A total of 8 engines, 4 ladder trucks, one squad, one rehab truck, 2 investigators, and 5 chiefs responded to this fire, for a total of 63 PF&R member working this incident.
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