Police Officer and former UP hall director Tommy Stoffel helps put out River Campus fire
(-- The Beacon)
By Rosemary Peters Editor-in-Chief peters12@up.edu
A child playing with matches caused the brush fire that broke out on the River Campus Sunday, according to Portland Fire and Rescue.
The two-alarm fire started at about 4:20 p.m. at the bottom of the bluff near North Willamette Lane and McKenna Avenue, the same site of the Willamette Bluff Fire of 2001, a Portland Fire and Rescue news release said. About 60 firefighters and half a dozen fire trucks were on the scene.
"I was driving behind Corrado when a million fire trucks came flying by," sophomore Evan Lawson said.
Assistant to the Provost John Orr, who lives near the site of the fire, was home when firefighters arrived.
"I was hanging up new curtains when I saw a fire truck go down McKenna," Orr said. "A lot of people came and stood and watched. At first I was concerned we were going to get in the way of the firemen."
Orr observed that rain the previous day left the vegetation damp, helping the firefighting effort.
"The conditions weren't right for it to turn into an inferno," Orr said.
By 4:51 p.m. fire crews had fire out.
Though no buildings were damaged, the wildfire reached fence lines of several backyards near the blaze. In response, Portland Fire started laying hoses between houses at the top of the bluff in an effort to protect nearby homes.
"If I was those people, I might have been concerned," Orr said.
According to fire crews, the fire burned about an acre of brush.
"Although it was a large response from Portland Fire, the size of the incident was not threatening to the surrounding homes or the University," UP Environmental Health and Safety Officer Jeff Rook said in an email.
Several UP students, faculty members and neighbors watched the firefighters battle the flames.
Junior Ian Clark was one of the onlookers.
"I saw smoke and heard sirens. As I got closer I saw it was right behind Schoenfeldt," Clark said. "There was a lot of people there."
Junior Ben Cilwick was walking with his bike when he smelled the smoke.
"There were 20-25 people watching the firemen on the bluff," Cilwick said. "A bunch of students kept showing up and were really concerned."
According to Portland Fire and Rescue, once the fire was under control, firefighters doused the fire area with foam to ensure there would be no flareups. They continued to maintain a watch on the area after the fire was out.
One of the Portland Police officers directing traffic away from the fire was Tommy Stoffel, who was the hall director in Villa for several years until he turned in his UP ID for an officer's badge in February 2010.
"Willamette was filled with smoke. Everyone was out of their houses and there were sirens everywhere," Stoffel said. "UP owes Portland Fire for putting it out so quickly."
(-- The Beacon)
