Crews extinguish Fifty-Licks basement fire on East Burnside

Andrew Foran
·2 min read

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Fire crews knocked down a Friday morning fire in a Northeast Portland basement.

Portland Fire and Rescue said it was thanks to quick-thinking from firefighters that the entire building on Northeast 28th Avenue and East Burnside Street wasn’t destroyed entirely. That said, some damage did occur to a couple of shops in the building, including Fifty-Licks ice cream parlor and another business.

Officials say crews responded flames had ripped through the basement stairs of the building and smoke was coming out through the roof.

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PF&R said they managed to enter the basement through a second entrance, however, the older modified building structure posed a challenge for the crews.

“The front door of the barber shop on the west side of the building was breached using forcible entry tools which damaged the door,” Rick Graves, a PF&R spokesperson, told KOIN 6 News.

  • Portland Fire and Rescue battled a basement fire at a commercial building on Northeast 28th Avenue and East Burnside Street. May 10, 2024 (courtesy PF&R).
    Portland Fire and Rescue battled a basement fire at a commercial building on Northeast 28th Avenue and East Burnside Street. May 10, 2024 (courtesy PF&R).
  • Portland Fire and Rescue battled a basement fire at a commercial building on Northeast 28th Avenue and East Burnside Street. May 10, 2024 (courtesy PF&R).
    Portland Fire and Rescue battled a basement fire at a commercial building on Northeast 28th Avenue and East Burnside Street. May 10, 2024 (courtesy PF&R).
  • Portland Fire and Rescue battled a basement fire at a commercial building on Northeast 28th Avenue and East Burnside Street. May 10, 2024 (courtesy PF&R).
    Portland Fire and Rescue battled a basement fire at a commercial building on Northeast 28th Avenue and East Burnside Street. May 10, 2024 (courtesy PF&R).
  • Portland Fire and Rescue battled a basement fire at a commercial building on Northeast 28th Avenue and East Burnside Street. May 10, 2024 (courtesy PF&R).
    Portland Fire and Rescue battled a basement fire at a commercial building on Northeast 28th Avenue and East Burnside Street. May 10, 2024 (courtesy PF&R).
  • Crews battle basement fire in building on Burnside
    Crews battle a basement fire in a building off Burnside (PF&R)

At 8:30 a.m., officials said they managed to bypass the basement stairs using an extension ladder to get a hose line at the base of the fire and extinguish the blaze. This unorthodox move “truly saved the building,” Graves said.

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Crews also worked with Fifty-Licks owners to unload “all their previously made and packaged ice cream into a mobile truck with a freezer to be taken to a different location for future sales so their current inventory is still available,” he added.

In terms of the damage, Fifty-Licks owns half of the basement where the fire happened but its condition is still being assessed, Graves said. In order to reach the flames and check void spaces, some walls were broken down by fire crews in both Fifty-Licks and a business just south of it and in the same building that sells goods.

This is a developing story and will be updated when more information becomes available.

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