Latest news with #PF&R
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Yahoo
PF&R investigating ‘suspicious' Powellhurst-Gilbert apartment fire
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Portland Fire & Rescue is investigating after a 'suspicious' fire at an apartment building in the Powellhurst-Gilber Neighborhood early Sunday morning. Just before 6 a.m., PF&R responded to a reported residential fire near the intersection of Southeast 118th and Holgate, where the Bureau of Emergency Communication indicated that fire and smoke was seen from a recently vacated apartment. On the scene, crews saw the blaze on the first and second level of an apartment with smoke pushing through the garage and on the eave line. Sheriff wants to charge for rescues of 'negligent, reckless' hikers in Skamania County Crews were able to quickly suppress the fire and said all occupants made it out of the building. According to PF&R, there were no reported injuries and neighboring apartment units were unaffected. Officials said there were reports of a suspicious person on the property who was quickly arrested by police and has since been released from police custody. Portland's 10 best burger joints of 2025, according to Yelp 'After conducting their scene examination, collecting evidence, interviewing witnesses and the deploying our Arson K9, fire investigators believe this fire was intentionally set,' PF&R said. Investigators are asking community members for help identifying any suspicious behavior before the fire. Anyone who saw anything suspicious while traveling along SE Holgate between 5:30 a.m. and 5:50 a.m. Sunday morning is asked to contact Portland Fire & Rescue. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Yahoo
Portland Fire & Rescue: Illegal burning letters are a fraud
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — If you get a letter from Portland Fire & Rescue about illegal burning on your property, it's a fraud. That's what officials with Portland Fire & Rescue said Tuesday about the letters some city residents have received. Not only are the letters fake, officials said, the 800 phone number listed in the letter 'directs recipients to an adult content phone line.' Van with damaged bumpers, taped window sought in possible SE Portland abduction There are a number of ways to know this is fake. The logo on the envelope and the letterhead are not the same as the official PFR letterhead. The ordinance cited in the letter — which threatens fines of $1500 or 'involuntary' property forfeiture — has nothing to do with illegal burning or forfeiting property. The signature is not from Interim Chief AJ Jackson. And then there's that 800 number. In a statement, PFR officials said: 'Portland Fire & Rescue has not sent out these letters claiming you must contact a toll-free phone number or pay a fee that must be mailed to PF&R, nor has PF&R threatened any property owners with 'involuntary' property forfeiture. PF&R would like to remind Portlanders to never provide any financial information over the phone or by mail to an unknown or unverified source.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Ombudsman releases scathing report on Portland Fire & Rescue
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Five months after a KOIN 6 News investigation, the Portland Ombudsman's Office called out Portland Fire & Rescue for fire safety issues at a relatively new Habitat for Humanity complex. The Ombudsman's Office initially spoke to KOIN 6 News about their investigation in the days after the KOIN 6 News investigation detailed the issues in late December 2024. The Cherry Blossom Townhomes near Mall 205 in Portland were approved at the last minute despite fire inspector warnings about code violations and without a required appeals process, the Ombudsman's report determined. Potential fire access issues Deputy Ombudsman Tony Green told KOIN 6 News his biggest concern is missing fire lane signs and rampant parking that blocks fire truck access. 'I am surprised that the Fire Bureau isn't acknowledging the problems with the parking,' Green said. 'And the other problem that they're not acknowledging is that the ground ladders do not meet best practices with the height of the building, and so they need to have an aerial access in there.' He said the buildings may exceed the height (30 feet) that requires a 26-foot-wide access road or an automatic sprinkler system, neither of which was implemented. Firefighters determined that some of the buildings were too tall to follow best practices for ground ladders, the memo stated. Parking on the access road and sidewalks narrows the available width to 17 feet, he said, obstructing space needed for aerial ladder trucks to fully deploy stabilizing braces. Turnaround requirement possibly overlooked The investigation stated the dead-end access road may exceed 300 feet in length, which could require a turnaround under local interpretations of the Fire Code. PF&R accepted a 'Y' shaped fork as a substitute, but again, the ombudsman found no written record that explains this decision. Inconsistent and delayed communication A homeowner raised safety concerns in Oct. 2023 then again in July 2024, but the investigation found PF&R took months to respond, offered conflicting information, and failed to follow through on promised communications. Homeowners received mixed messages about whether parking changes were needed and never received the formal guidance they were promised, Green said. 'I don't feel safe at all, but I feel less safe than ever because the fire department, it's their job and their duty to keep us safe, and they failed to do that,' said homeowner Lacey Sutton. Even after being alerted to his findings, Green told KOIN 6 News, fire officials remain in denial. 'That was disappointing that they, at least at this point, have not acknowledged the problems and have not embraced a leadership role in determining and helping this place move towards the safest possible arrangement,' Green said. In his memo released early Wednesday, Green recommends: PF&R provide written documentation explaining how firefighters can respond safely to emergencies at the site Give written recommendations on parking restrictions and any needed safety improvements Hold a public meeting to allow residents to ask questions and receive direct answers from fire officials. 'What I had hoped to accomplish was for the Fire Bureau to take some responsibility for the situation and help guide the homeowners association,' Green said. In response, Portland Fire Marshal Kari Schimel said PF&R is committed to holding a meeting to answer homeowners questions and concerns. Cherry Blossom Response LetterDownload KOIN 6 News will have more information later in the day, including homeowners, officials from Habitat for Humanity and Portland Fire & Rescue. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Portland City Councilor suggests staffing up Police and Fire to cut down overtime amid budget crunch
PORTLAND, Ore. () — Portland City Council members are already coming up with ideas on how to balance the books ahead of a budget work session on Tuesday. OR bill would allow cops to destroy hoop houses The meeting won't include finalized decisions on budget issues but rather it is designed to teach the new city council members how to put a budget together. However, since the City of Portland is facing a , conversations among city leaders addressing that have already begun. KOIN 6 talked to city leaders on Tuesday afternoon, right before the meeting was set to begin. Last month, union representatives from the Portland Police Bureau and Portland Fire and Rescue both sounded the alarm that they couldn't take any more cuts in their departments. Now Portland City Council for District 1 Loretta Smith has put forward the idea of staffing up both to cut down on overtime. 'Trying to figure out how we can get our overtime costs down and make sure that we close that $100 million gap,' said Smith, whose position echoed that of former Mayor Ted Wheeler to not cut back on public safety funding. Last month, a budget memo put forth by city financial officials suggested 5%-8% cuts to PPB and PF&R — which could slash both budgets by millions of dollars. 'We have $50 million in overtime costs in this last year, and the way we can beat that is to do like our 911 system did. They overfilled all of their vacant positions so that they wouldn't have all the overtime that they have,' Smith said. According to PPB, the department spent about $21.75 million on overtime pay last fiscal year. City wage data also shows that $24.6 million of overtime was paid to PF&R. The wage data also shows 12 PPB members made more than $100,000 in overtime alone. In addition, 14 PF&R lieutenants and firefighters earned more than $100,000, as well. BPA staffing cuts increase odds of power outage PPB Sgt. Aaron Schmautz, the Portland Police Association president, told KOIN 6 News in a recent episode of that should the department face millions of dollars in cuts, it could inhibit existing staff's ability to respond to cases such as human trafficking and domestic violence. He was supportive of the idea of keeping staff levels high to bring overtime costs down. 'We cannot do this again, there is no fat to trim in the police bureau,' Schmautz said last month. Isaac McClenan, president of the Portland Firefighters Association, concurred, 'A 5% or an 8% cut to fire means only one thing, we're closing fire stations.' Smith said she plans to introduce an ordinance on Wednesday to better manage unassigned city funds. KOIN 6 asked Portland City Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney for her response to agencies left on high alert as budget-balancing discussions continue. 'I know all of our bureaus and our city workforce are really concerned with what the future holds for them. Our commitment is to make sure that we are providing basic services to Portlanders, and we will make sure that that is our North Star as we move forward in this process,' Pirtle Guiney said. Officials said the city administrator's budget is expected by the end of the month. Avalanche near Mt. Bachelor may have buried people KOIN 6 reached out to representatives from PPB and PF&R for comment about the budget and overtime costs. Their statements are below. From Mike Benner, PPB spokesperson: 'Overtime is an issue we are aware of and recognize and are having internal discussions about. Over the last several years, we've lost a significant number of officers, approximately 300. In order to provide a minimum level of service, we need to utilize overtime. In addition, we use OT to run specialized missions that address stolen vehicles, retail theft, human trafficking, etc. These are missions that go along way in addressing criminal behavior in our community. In addition, officers can work OT at a Blazers or Timbers game, for example. The OT reflected in the paychecks is reimbursed from the outside. And finally, PPB has a robust wellness program where we emphasize self care and make sure officers are taking care of themselves.' From Rick Graves, PF&R spokesperson: 'Through hiring 23 additional bodies over the past few years we are course correcting this OT quickly and have the evidence to show this that our usage of OT in similar time periods prior to have these bodies to fill the boots and now with these new hires and our OT is reduced as we are not as dependent upon someone working OT to make sure the boots are filled through a shift. I believe the last figure I saw is we were down 19% from 2024 to the same period of time in 2025. It may be helpful for you to know that there are multiple ways folks earn overtime but much of this is acquired via 'backfill' or filling a vacancy at a fire station but we also have members that are involved in committees and parts of projects where OT is authorized and utilized but this is a very small percentage of the total expense as most is simply to fill for those FF on leave. Essentially we need more FF to reduce OT.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Portland firefighters called to remove titanium smart ring from woman's finger
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Portland Fire & Rescue firefighters were called to perform an emergency ring removal on Feb. 15 after a woman's finger swelled up around an Oura smart ring that was too tough to remove with basic tools. Four cats taken to Portland animal hospital with suspected bird flu A special firefighter crew was called to an urgent care center in East Portland around noon Saturday after hospital staff and an initial firefighter crew that responded to the emergency were unable to remove the ring, Portland Fire & Rescue spokesperson Rick Graves told KOIN. 'The initial 911 call was taken by a truck company near the Lloyd Center, but it turned out their equipment wasn't robust enough to address this incident,' Graves said. 'So one of the heavy rescues in the city responded to assist.' The ring's titanium shell and electronic circuitry were too tough to cut with a spinning ring-cutter, PF&R said. The unique job required a diamond-tipped blade only carried by two PF&R crews. 'The outer shell of titanium and inner componentry were far too much for a traditional hand spinning ring-cutter,' PF&R shared on social media. '[Firefighters used] a diamond-tipped blade on a handheld rotary tool along with some modified silverware to act as a protective shield and a little water to keep everything cooled off.' Could Portland see more February snow? It's unclear what caused the woman's hand to swell around the smart ring. PF&R firefighters successfully removed the ring with the diamond-tipped equipment. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
