Fire damages historic diner, firefighters cut through roof to reach flames

By Jeffrey Lindblom

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    PORTLAND Oregon (KPTV) — A fire in a Portland icon started with the grill, then transformed into a plume of smoke rising from the 1940s diner roof on Sunday afternoon.

Portland Fire & Rescue responded around 3:30 p.m. to Fuller’s Coffee House at 136 Northwest Ninth Avenue, about an hour and a half after the historic diner had closed for the day.

“It’s probably one of the most iconic places in Portland to eat,” said Kevin Holmes, who works across at the street. “I don’t know, you can’t get a better experience.”

Ken Liebl, chief operating officer for the parent company of Fuller’s Coffee Shop, said when he took a look at the diner’s live security footage, he saw a bunch of firefighters battling a blaze.

From across the street, Holmes saw the same.

“It looked like a grill fire on the inside,” he said. “Then, the next thing we knew it looked like it went out. But then smoke just started pluming out of the roof.”

Several people said they were concerned about one of their favorite Portland places to grab a bite when they saw the smoke.

“I’m bummed that it happened to such a good business and such great people,” Holmes said.

Firefighters said when fire crews arrived, it appeared the blaze had started on a stovetop, but spread into the hood and vent system which required them to cut through the roof.

“It wasn’t soon after we saw the smoke bellowing out of the roof that these guys all pulled up,” Holmes said, gesturing to the firefighters nearby. “This fire truck here was the first one, and not soon after everybody else came to the scene.”

The diner closed at 2 p.m. The general manager told Liebl that everything had been in tip top shape at that time, Liebl said. He noted the hood vents were recently cleaned.

He added that they’d been dealing with several break-ins over the last year and said this is just another thing to add to the list of inconveniences. However, he said it’s far from detrimental.

Firefighters said an investigation is underway into what officially caused the fire. Liebl said he’s interested in seeing what comes of that. Altogether, he said they’ll be back soon.

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