PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A 3-alarm fire burned through a Northwest Portland commercial building Thursday afternoon, Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue said.
Tosoh Quartz on the 14000 block of NW Science Park Drive was evacuated after the fire broke out around 4 p.m.
The person who called 911 said gas was filling up the building and that the fire had started on the second floor where people were working, TVF&R said.
Firefighters who arrived on the scene said they found dark, pressurized smoke coming from the eaves of the building. Due to “known chemicals” in the building and the nature of the work done there, crews upgraded it to a 3-alarm fire.
“The fire did end up spreading toward a gas line, which actually ended up melting the gas line and causing a leak in that gas line,” Kim Haughn with TVF&R said.
Haughn said the gas leak “just continued to feed the fire.”
Hazmat crews were called in due to the gas leak and because of hydrogen and oxygen tanks onsite, TVF&R said. Hazmat crews helped shut off the fuel sources.
A Tosoh Quartz employee was burned in the fire and taken to the hospital.
It took firefighters over an hour to completely extinguish the blaze. The fire was under control as of 5:45 p.m., according to a TVF&R tweet.
The fire didn’t spread to any areas where chemicals were stored.
“Crews did an extraordinary job of immediately identifying the nature of the fire they were facing, especially with the onsite chemicals that they were able to isolate from the fire,” Battalion Chief Kelly Bach said in a press release. “They rapidly extinguished the fire, preventing extensive damage to the business.”
Tosoh Quartz manufactures quartz glassware and products for the semiconductor industry, according to the company’s website.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
