A gas line that split after being repeatedly jostled during routine cleaning is at the center of a $3.5 million lawsuit over the fire that heavily damaged the kitchen at RingSide Steakhouse in Portland last year. Middlesex Insurance, which paid out nearly $3.5 million to cover the restaurant's fire losses, filed the suit in Multnomah County Circuit Court on August 31, 2026, naming five businesses it claims share responsibility for the blaze at the corner of Northwest 22nd Avenue and West Burnside Street.
According to the lawsuit, as reported by The Oregonian/OregonLive, Linda's Janitorial Services moved the restaurant's gas range once a month for nearly two years to clean behind it, and that repeated movement weakened the gas line until it split. Natural gas then escaped and ignited, according to the suit, heating a stainless steel sheet behind the range that in turn set fire to plywood and insulation behind the sheeting. The resulting blaze caused heavy fire, water and smoke damage inside the kitchen, though the dining room and booths reportedly remained largely intact.
The lawsuit also names Stainless Solutions, which installed the gas range and gas line in May 2023; Sigma Mechanical, which per the lawsuit conducted preventative maintenance on the hot equipment less than two months before the fire; C&S Fire-Safe Services, which the suit says inspected and maintained the kitchen ventilation system, exhaust hoods and exhaust ducts and had last serviced the ventilation system a few weeks before the fire; and Sanderson Fire Protection, which reportedly performed a semiannual fire safety service in the kitchen less than six months before the blaze. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports that the defendants provided no comment when contacted.
Industry Standards Behind the Allegations
The suit's central claim - that moving heavy equipment repeatedly during cleaning can damage a gas connection - touches on a well-known engineering standard in commercial kitchens. Under commercial fuel gas standards, kitchens are required to use flexible, commercial-grade gas connectors so equipment can be safely pulled away from walls for cleaning without damaging the gas line, according to Tundra Restaurant Supply.
Fire suppression and ventilation maintenance are also governed by national code. NFPA 96 requires that commercial kitchen fire-extinguishing systems be maintained at least every six months, with exhaust hood cleaning schedules set according to cooking volume, per the National Fire Protection Association. The same organization's data show cooking equipment is the leading cause of restaurant structure fires, accounting for more than 60% of all fires in eating and drinking establishments nationwide.
A Quick Response, Then a Long Rebuild
The fire broke out in RingSide's kitchen on April 5, 2025. Portland Fire & Rescue units responded to the mid-afternoon blaze at around 2:15 p.m. that Saturday and contained it quickly, with zero reported injuries to staff or customers, according to Bridgetown Bites. RingSide reopened about four months later.
During that closure, the restaurant kept all of its 80-plus employees on payroll and continued paying their regular paychecks throughout the shutdown, according to KGW. It also found a way to keep customers engaged: prior to its official reopening on August 4, 2025, RingSide announced a one-day drive-through sale scheduled for June 14, 2025, offering cases of frozen 35-day dry-aged ribeye steaks while repairs were underway, the Northwest Examiner reports.
An 81-Year-Old Portland Landmark
RingSide began serving steaks in 1944 and is considered Portland's oldest steak restaurant. It originally opened across the street from its current location, taking its boxing-themed name from matches once held at a nearby Northwest Portland arena, before relocating in the early 1950s into a building that had previously housed a Piggly Wiggly grocery store, according to OPB. Three generations of the Peterson family, including brothers Scott and Craig Peterson, have owned and operated the restaurant across its multi-decade history.
Last year's fire was not the first the restaurant has weathered. OPB notes that long-time kitchen staff recalled a previous fire in the late 1970s caused by a wood-burning fireplace chimney. RingSide has also turned to the courts before over business losses: in September 2020, the restaurant joined other prominent local venues in filing suit against Cincinnati Insurance Company in Multnomah County Circuit Court over denied business interruption claims during COVID-19 closures, according to a summary from Miller Nash Graham & Dunn.
