PORTLAND, Ore. — One person was hospitalized in serious condition on Wednesday after a fire broke out at a homeless camp concealed under the onramp to the eastbound entrance of the Steel Bridge, Portland Fire and Rescue said.
Around 3:30 p.m., firefighters responded to an initial report of smoke and a possible grass and brush fire at the corner of Northwest Naito Parkway and Northwest Everett Street. Crews found smoke coming from small cracks of a cinderblock wall under the bridge. They used sledgehammer-like tools to break open the wall and found a fire inside the enclosed space, which people had been using as a living space.
Firefighters extinguished the fire and searched the area under the onramp. One person, who has not been identified, was taken to the hospital with burns and smoke inhalation.
While crews searched the enclosed space, they found areas that were dug out to create a living space.
"This search was dangerous to fire crews due to the collapse potential of the bridge along with any damage to the bridge due to fire impingement," PF&R said in a news release.
Firefighters were also exposed to hazards as they worked to stop the fire and check for victims inside the space under the bridge ramp.
"It's just unfortunate that the situation occurs that we're crawling through... quite a bit of personal belongings, quite a bit of human waste, quite a bit of improperly discarded needles that our crews were working in and around," said PF&R spokesperson Rick Graves.
Graves said firefighters had to go through an extensive decontamination process after their work was complete. No firefighters were injured.
While the fire inside the onramp burned, embers from it caught a nearby tent on fire, PF&R said. Crews were able to put that fire out and no one inside the tent was injured.
KGW reporter Tim Gordon checked out an area under the onramp on Thursday. He tweeted a video showing large piles of personal belongings inside the enclosed area.
PF&R has not released the cause of the fire.
The Oregon Department of Transportation has closed the onramp while engineers evaluate the bridge for any damage. As of 12:30 p.m. Thursday, the onramp was still closed. Engineers had taken one look underneath the ramp, but would need to return to make a more thorough inspection once the area was cleaned up enough to be deemed safe to work.
"Once we’ve really had a chance to take a good look, then we’ll decide if anything needs to be done before we reopen it," said ODOT spokesperson Don Hamilton.
Hamilton also said the agency would be looking into ways to discourage camping access in the future.
Fires at homeless campsites
Wednesday's fire is the latest one to break out at a homeless camp in the city. PF&R says it has responded to more than a thousand tent or tarp-related fires within the last two years.
After a rash of fires at homeless camp in February, Commissioner Rene Gonzalez — who is in charge of Portland Fire and Rescue — put a pause on handing out tents and tarps to people living on the streets. The ban only applies to groups under the public safety bureaus that Gonzalez manages, namely Portland Street Response. Gonzalez encouraged people to use warming centers instead.
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