It’s not clear if anyone was inside the 116-year-old building when the fire broke out shortly after 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon. And Portland Fire officials say it is too early to say what caused this four-alarm fire which saw flames and dark black smoke fill the skies above the Pearl District.
Portland Fire and Rescue Public Information Officer Rick Graves says the vacant building is considered structurally unsafe, and in danger of collapse, so firefighters were not sent inside the building. As of late Sunday afternoon, they were working to extinguish the blaze from the outside only.
The video above, shot by Ediz Altun at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 2, shows smoke and flames pouring from the Centennial Mills Building at 1362 NW Naito Parkway, at the north end of the Pearl District.
Besides fighting the fire from along Naito Parkway, crews were also fighting it from the river. Firefighters have been pumping water from the Willamette and attacking flames from their fireboats.
Wildland brush rigs have also been roaming the area putting out spot fires from flying embers. At least two trees went up in flames.
Above, looking down into the still-burning Centennial Mills building. Click on the square-shaped icon at lower right to view video full screen. Aerial shot Sunday near sundown by Walden Kirsch.
As of mid-day Monday, the fire was still smouldering. Looking down, you can see that all the remains standing of the old structure are its walls. Aerial video by Walden Kirsch.
Other firefighters are stationed on top of nearby rooftops watching for flying embers and ready to douse any spot fires.
The Fire Bureau’s Rick Graves described the fire as “burning in the belly” of the building. The masonry external shell is housing the fire. Graves said “all the floors have collapsed down. So we’ve got a significant amount of fuel that has gone to the bottom and it’s just a pretty big fire in the lower floors of this particular structure.”
Firefighters moved nearby transients away from the building when they arrived. Graves said transients have occupied the building even though it is boarded up.
Fully half of all the city’s firefighters were on scene as of early Sunday evening. Graves said it will be a long time before the fire goes out and crews expect to be on scene through Sunday night.
The Centennial Mills building photographed from the air on Friday, July 31, two days before it burned. Click square-shaped icon at lower right to view full-screen. Aerial above by Walden Kirsch.
The building housed a flour mill and operated from 1910 to 2000. The mill changed hands a number of times in recent years. In 2021, Prosper Portland, the city of Portland’s economic and urban development agency, and the building’s then-owner, sold it a California-based private investment group for $13 million.
Multiple efforts to restore or redevelop the old mill failed, and the structure has been derelict for more than 25 years.
There are two most probable reasons. Homeless squatters. Or the elephant in the room: the developer who abandoned his redevelopment project earlier last month over frustration with dealing with the city. You know fire investigators are going down both roads. Outside of NW though, I am really surprised about how few people know about Centennial Mills or the story behind 25 years of failed development plans. "They burned it down to build condos" or "Of course it's vacant, it's Portland" implying it's a victim of the current vacant office building syndrome. Whatever redevelopment plan DOES come out of it, restoration of the main building is out of equation once and for all.
Tragedy. But, maybe a silver lining. Feckless politicians have let this obsolete eyesore languish for over 2 decades. Perhaps with this deck clearing, resolute citizens can find a way to develop this moribund site into something that contributes to economic growth rather than homeless drug addict dereliction. We live in hope.