At 1 a.m. Tuesday, Portland Fire & Rescue responded to a fire at Elephants Delicatessen off Northwest 22nd Avenue. When firefighters arrived, they found an exterior fire that had spread inside the business and onto the roof.
“The exterior portion of the fire was quickly extinguished, and crews accessed the interior to address any visible fire in the large, open space of the commercial delicatessen,” Portland Fire said in a release. “Fire had extended into the complex roof structure and was difficult to access from both the interior and exterior.”
Officials said firefighters were temporarily pulled off the roof because of safety concerns. “A second alarm was requested at around the 30-minute mark, with aggressive smoke pushing out of vent holes and long flames shooting upward from the roof at this time in the incident,” Portland Fire said.
Firefighters cut multiple holes into exterior walls to extinguish the fire in the ceiling. Fire investigators are working to determine the cause. Officials say the building was built in 1947.
