An automobile fire just outside Grant High School billowed smoke into the air and drew the attention of firefighters Tuesday, as students stuck their heads out of classroom windows and snapped pictures for social media.
Firefighters from the Portland Fire Bureau’s Engine 13 company responded within five minutes to the scene at Northeast 35th Place at U.S. Grant Place, where flames engulfed a light colored minivan and extinguished the blaze quickly.
The driver, who is not connected to Grant, asked to have his name withheld. He was headed east on U.S. Grant Place shortly before 11 a.m. when the smell of smoke prompted him to pull over. When the driver opened the hood, flames were visible near the car radiator.
Engine 13, located at Northeast 9th Avenue and Weidler Street, arrived at the scene at 11:02 a.m. “We are trained to work efficiently and safely,” said Lt. Rich Tyler, the public information officer for the Bureau. “So we’re not going to hang around and cause other issues.”
Tyler said car fires are a common occurrence, but today was unusual for a different reason. “Actually, today was rather unique,” he said. “We had, I believe, three different car fires throughout the city.”
In less than 45 minutes, Engine 13 cleared the scene. “We try to have a really quick response time in the city of Portland,” said Lt. Ryan Sutton, one of the firefighters on scene.
After investigating, Engine 13 determined the fire was not started maliciously and a fire investigator was not needed at the scene. The fire was reported to have started in the engine compartment of the car. No one was injured.
Finn Hawley-Blue contributed to this report.
