Portland Fire Crews Call Second Alarm, Send Investigator Thompson to Nighttime Blaze

Portland Fire & Rescue crews battled a nighttime structure fire that sent smoke curling behind buildings, prompting commanders to call for a second alarm and send a Public Information Officer to the scene. The response, posted early Thursday morning by the department, also brought in Portland Fire Squad and Fire Investigator Thompson, identified in incident imagery by the badge number I-372.

According to a post from Portland Fire & Rescue, the second alarm was requested Thursday as crews worked the blaze, with a PIO en route to provide updates. The department's post included an image showing the fire at night with smoke rising behind nearby buildings, along with a separate graphic identifying the responding investigator and squad unit. Calling for a second alarm is a standard escalation under Portland Fire & Rescue's operational protocol, one that doubles or significantly increases the personnel and apparatus assigned to a fire when its size or structural threat outpaces what the initial response can handle, as Hoodline has previously reported.

A Specialized Squad and a Veteran Investigator on Scene

The dispatch of Portland Fire Squad brings specialized technical rescue capability to a working fire scene. Portland Fire & Rescue's squad units, including Squad 1, which traces its roots to 1962 when it was established from Engine 2, provide heavy extrication equipment and tactical support during major structure fires and complex emergencies across the city, according to background maintained by the City of Portland.

The investigator named in the incident imagery, identified as Thompson, carries a notable record within the bureau's Fire Investigations Unit. Fire Investigator Lieutenant Elizabeth Thompson received a Letter of Commendation from Portland Fire & Rescue in May 2025 for her role investigating a complex eight-hour structure fire at the historic May Apartments in Southwest Portland, per city records. More recently, in July 2026, the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office recognized Thompson and the Fire Investigations Unit for uncovering evidence in a July 2025 apartment arson and hate crime that led to a 20-year prison sentence, according to the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office.

Under Portland City Code, cause-and-origin fire investigations fall to the Fire and Arson Investigation Unit within the Fire Prevention Division, which grants sworn investigators law-enforcement authority to probe potential criminal arson and coordinate directly with the Portland Police Bureau. It remains unclear from Thursday's dispatch whether investigators suspect any criminal element in this particular fire; the presence of an investigator at a working structure fire is standard practice for determining origin and cause.

A Grueling Stretch for Portland's Fire Crews

Thursday's second-alarm fire lands in the middle of an unusually demanding week for the department. Just a day earlier, on August 26, Portland Fire & Rescue reported responding to more than 15 vegetation fires in a single day alongside multiple larger wildland and structure calls, reflecting the heightened operational demand of the city's dry late-summer conditions, per FlashAlert.

The strain has been building for weeks. Earlier this month, the department deployed 88 firefighters, nearly half of the city's active shift workforce, to fight a major multi-alarm commercial fire at the historic, vacant Centennial Mills facility along Naito Parkway, as Hoodline reported. And on August 24, crews in Southeast Portland faced an especially hazardous offensive attack on an apartment fire after downed power lines fell near the burning structure, forcing strict electrical safety buffer zones during suppression efforts.

The stretch of dry weather has also triggered seasonal restrictions across the region. Multnomah County health officials and the Multnomah County Fire Defense Board maintain outdoor burn bans during hot summer periods, restricting recreational campfires and open debris burning to prevent accidental structure and brush fires, a measure Hoodline has noted is a regular feature of Oregon's dry summer season.

Portland Fire & Rescue relies on its official social media account and FlashAlert notifications to push real-time updates during working fires, typically prioritizing rapid safety alerts before fuller incident reports follow. As of Thursday's post, the department had not released additional details on the fire's location, cause, or whether anyone was injured.