Downed power lines sparked several small fires Friday in Northeast Portland, including one that burned a car, fire officials said.
Firefighters first responded to an arcing electrical wire near Northeast 22nd Avenue and Bryant Street in the Concordia neighborhood shortly after 5 a.m. and quickly extinguished several small street-side vegetation fires, Portland Fire & Rescue officials said in a statement.
A short time later, another downed line about eight blocks away near Northeast 17th Avenue and Buffalo Street ignited a car, they said. A large tree had fallen in saturated soil and had taken out the high-power line and several house service lines, they said.
Firefighters couldn’t put out the car fire because the high-power line was “bouncing actively on the ground and creating explosive electrical charges,” but they created a perimeter to keep people away and let the fire burn out, the statement said.
Pacific Power turned off power to the area and worked to repair the lines.
Fire officials said some neighbors came out of their homes to investigate the damage and warned that people should consider all downed lines as dangers, stay at least 50 feet away from them and call 911.
In January 2024, three people were electrocuted when a branch and a Portland General Electric line collapsed on an SUV in Northeast Portland. They slipped on ice while trying to get a baby to safety and touched the live wire circuit. The child survived when an 18-year-old bystander rescued the boy.
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