Multnomah County's main bridge repair shop caught fire Tuesday night, heavily damaging the building, equipment and vehicles.
Photo courtesy of Multnomah County
The central repair shop for Multnomah County’s bridges caught fire Tuesday night, causing significant damage to the building, equipment and vehicles.
The bridge shop is the maintenance and operations center for the county’s six Willamette River bridges and 22 smaller bridges. It’s located on Southeast Water Avenue, wedged between the Hawthorne Bridge’s eastbound and westbound ramps.
County officials said the bridge and the county’s other movable bridges are still operational. The cause of the fire is under investigation, but so far officials believe it started when equipment on a water tanker parked in a garage bay malfunctioned and caught fire.
Firefighters at Portland Fire Bureau’s nearby Fire Station 21 heard an explosion and a bridge operator called 911, according to the county. Most of the fire was extinguished in 20 minutes, and firefighters doused hot spots in another 20 minutes. No one was injured.
Smoke and water damaged much of the building’s electrical system. On Wednesday afternoon, county officials said they were still assessing how much was lost. The fire heavily damaged many vehicles belonging to the county’s community services department.
Some parts of the bridge shop were thought to be more than 100 years old, including a portion that used to be a trolley barn.
“Engineers who have overseen some of the largest County infrastructure projects have operated out of the building during that time period,” the county noted in a press release.
Some of the shop’s staff are on-site helping with cleanup. The rest are now working from home or in other county buildings.