PORTLAND, Ore. — More than 10,000 people lost power after a fire ignited in a homeless encampment Wednesday afternoon.
According to Portland Fire and Rescue (PF&R), the fire started at a homeless encampment at the 100 block of Northeast 100th Avenue but was extinguished. PacifiCorp said an RV fire had spread to grass near their equipment, and they de-energized their lines to protect first responders.
PF&R said that there was a power pole "involved" and infringement to elevated power lines but is not aware of the extent of the damage.
There are no reported injuries at this time.
"We will re-energize when it is safe to do so," the utility company said in an email. "We are still working to determine if the fire caused any damage to our equipment. If there was damage, it will take some time to repair."
PacifiCorp advised people to follow their outage map for more information. Pacific Power initially said in a tweet that power should be restored by 4:30 p.m., although as of about 2:45 p.m., the outage map showed most of the power had apparently already been restored.
