A massive fire on Southeast Division Street Friday afternoon engulfed an RV where a couple had been living for years, sending a column of black smoke into the Portland sky and shattering windows at the business where the vehicle was parked. The blaze occurred near Southeast 8th and 9th avenues, just east of OMSI, during a busy evening commute with cars, bikes, runners, and MAX Orange Line riders in the area.
Portland Fire & Rescue (PF&R) responded at 4:20 p.m., dispatching a single engine to the scene. According to PF&R spokesperson Rick Graves, the cause of the fire remains unknown four days later. The displaced couple is receiving assistance from the Red Cross, and one cat from the RV is still missing.
The RV had been parked on the property of Standard Electric Motor Service, a mechanic shop owned by Laurance and Sandra Seet, who initially allowed the couple to stay there as a way to prevent the vehicle from being towed. Sandra Seet, 83, said her husband hoped the couple might compensate him for prior help, but recently they had asked the RV residents to move. “We asked them several times,” she said. “He kept saying, ‘We’re going to leave, we’re going to get a different vehicle.’”…