A grass fire measuring roughly 100 feet by 50 feet broke out in Portland's Cully neighborhood early Friday, prompting Squad 12 to request additional resources over concerns the flames could spread to a nearby metal structure. Firefighters were on scene working to keep the blaze from extending further, according to the unit's radio traffic relayed on social media.
Squad 12, based out of Station 12 on NE Sandy Boulevard, is a specialized technical rescue unit that covers the Cully, Sumner, and Sandy neighborhoods of Northeast Portland, according to the City of Portland. The crew's dispatch to the overnight blaze was first reported by Portland Fire & Rescue, which said the fire posed a risk of extending to an adjacent metal building and that additional resources were needed to prevent that outcome. Portland Fire & Rescue's broader mission, per the department, is to protect life, property, and the environment across the city it serves.
A Burn Ban Already in Effect Across the County
The fire ignited during an active summer burn ban that has covered Portland and Multnomah County since mid-June, when the city's Fire Marshal and the Multnomah County Fire Defense Board prohibited open burning, campfires, fire pits, and yard debris fires due to hot, dry conditions, according to a notice posted to FlashAlert. That restriction was still in force this week: county health officials extended a mandatory wood-burning restriction for four straight days as of Thursday, citing high temperatures, elevated ground-level ozone, and wildfire smoke drifting into the region, per Multnomah County health officials. Regional blazes, including the Grasshopper Fire near Mount Hood, have contributed to that degraded air quality across the county.
Compliance with the burn ban has not been universal. Just weeks earlier, four Portland firefighters were dispatched to put out a medium-to-large yard debris fire in Southwest Portland that was started by Portland City Councilor Mitch Green, resulting in a burn ban violation, as reported by Willamette Week.
Cully's Third Major Fire Response in Days
Friday's grass fire is not the first time this month that Cully has seen flames threaten structures. Just three days earlier, Portland Fire & Rescue called a second-alarm response to a fire on NE Columbia Boulevard in the same neighborhood after vehicle and tractor-trailer blazes threatened to spread into a large industrial warehouse, according to the City of Portland. The neighborhood also has a history of destructive industrial fires: a five-alarm scrapyard blaze at 7600 NE Killingsworth Street in March 2018 forced mandatory evacuations after burning vehicles and scrap sent toxic particulate smoke over surrounding homes, per Multnomah County records.
Cully has also seen other emergency activity in recent days unrelated to fire. An 18-year-old was killed and five others were injured in a mass shooting at a house party on NE Alberta Street in the neighborhood, as reported by OPB.
Dry Vegetation Across the Region Keeps Igniting
The Cully fire fits a pattern seen across the Portland metro area this summer, as dry roadside vegetation has proven quick to ignite in the heat. In Beaverton, Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue extinguished a grass fire sparked by illegal aerial fireworks in a parking lot before it could reach neighboring properties, a blaze Beaverton's parking lot firework fire previously covered by Hoodline. Farther east, the lightning-caused Grasshopper Fire near Mount Hood National Forest had grown to 23,672 acres, or nearly 37 square miles, triggering evacuations and emergency community meetings.
Portland Fire & Rescue operates 31 stations across 160 square miles and responded to 89,422 calls for service during the 2024–2025 fiscal year, according to the department's annual performance report. That scale of operations allows the department to shift additional units to a scene like Friday's Cully fire when crews determine a blaze threatens to extend beyond open ground. It remains unclear how the fire started or whether it was brought under control before reaching the metal structure Squad 12 was working to protect.
