March 14, 2018
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Firefighters douse water on a huge fire that erupted at a scrap yard near Northeast 76th and
Killingsworth Street Monday, sending toxic smoke throughout the city, destroying a nearby apartment
and duplex, killing several pets and causing the evacuations of hundreds of residents. (KGW photo)
Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
Disaster in Cully
pages 8-10
Scrap yard
fire destroys
homes; brings
evacuations
D anny P eterson
t he P ortlanD o bserver
A 5-alarm fire that started Mon-
day morning at an auto salvage
yard in the Cully Neighborhood
spread to nearby houses, destroy-
ing a six unit apartment, a duplex,
killing more than a dozen cats, and
displacing an estimated 2,000 to
4,000 residents.
An evacuation order that ini-
tially encompassed a mile radius
in the vicinity of the fire at North-
east 75th Avenue and just south of
Killingsworth Street was expand-
ed Monday night to thousands
more as noxious chemicals from
the burning of tires, auto parts,
and plastic filled the air.
The evacuation prompted Mult-
nomah County and Red Cross to
open an emergency shelter on
1415 S.E. 122nd Ave. where 141
people and several of their pets
sought shelter Monday night.
Emergency officials announced
Tuesday morning that it was safe
for most residents to return to their
homes, air quality tests confirmed.
A Cully neighborhood resident
who chose to remain anonymous
said he first noticed a heavy or-
ange and yellow smoke from the
fire around 9 a.m. Monday. The
smoke soon settled down to street
level and he said it gave him a sore
throat and he had trouble breath-
ing.
Another
eyewitness,
Ajit
by
M ETRO
O PINION
C LASSIFIEDS
C ALENDAR
page 9
pages 12-13
pages 14
page 15
Stingh, 65, saw firefighters rush
to the scene while people were
scattering holding their faces and
wearing masks. He was tending
to his store, Portland Market and
Deli, on Northeast Killingsworth
and Cully Boulevard.
Colleen Ek Ishiyamna, an ad-
ministrative assistant at Trinity
Lutheran Christian School on
Killingsworth, said the plume of
smoke darkened the sky above the
school before it descended down
on them.
“It was such a beautiful day
and then all the sudden, can’t even
play [in it],” he said.
The school canceled recess
and other activities for the rest of
the day while keeping students
indoors. They canceled school
Tuesday.
Ek Ishiyama said many of the
school’s parents are from the Lati-
no community that lives at a near-
by apartment complex, Villa de
Clara Vista. Many of them had to
spend the night with other friends
and family members.
Public health officials from
Multnomah County said smoke
from the fire, which was still smol-
dering on Tuesday, can irritate peo-
ple’s eyes and respiratory system
and can particularly impact young
children, the elderly, and people
with heart and lung problems.
A fire in an auto salvage yard,
with its many tires and fuels,
can be especially toxic, carrying
things like asbestos, aldehydes,
acid gases, and sulfur dioxide.
If anyone experiences trouble
breathing, chest tightness, light-
headedness or unusual tiredness
they should contact a healthcare
provider right away, county offi-
cials said.
The public can sign up for pub-
lic safety alerts at PublicAlerts.
org for the latest information, call
211 for shelter assistance, and call
503-823-2323 for transportation
assistance.
Several streets in the Cully Neighorhood of northeast Portland
remained closed Tuesday, the day after a huge scrap yard fire
nearby erupted into flames and smoke. The cause of the fire was
under investigation.