VIDEO: On August 2, 1853, Portland Fire & Rescue began its service to the City of Portland. Just 19 years later, the โBlack Saturdayโ fire destroyed 22 blocks of the city which led to the iconic Messenger Bell going into service. And on this August 2, Portland Fire Station 15 celebrated 100 years of service at the bungalow fire station at 1920 SW Spring Street. Over the past century, the nature of fighting fires and what firefighters do has evolved quite a bit. There are fewer fires now than before, in part because of stronger fire codes and more modern buildings. Medical calls today play a much bigger role for responders than in previous times.
Portland Fire Bureau historian Don Porth said PF&R began responding to medical emergency calls in 1915. But fighting fires was still their main focus. โWhen I first started back in โ84, the Pearl District was a hotbed of fires in old, old apartment buildings and empty warehouses. There were a lot of fires over there,โ Porth told KOIN 6 News. โWell, then time swung the pendulum.โ Now, 80% of the calls fire crews respond to is for a medical emergency. Fire Capt. Stephen Scott told KOIN 6 News they are staffed with about the same number of firefighters โ but handling a heavier workload. โWe still have 31 stations and roughly the same amount of firefighters weโve had for a very long time. The amount of calls that we go on has increased substantially and will continue to increase,โ Scott said.
Often, people call 911 when it isnโt actually an emergency. There is also a much larger population for fire crews to help. โWeโve kind of reached a critical point where we have to reduce the call volume for many of our stations,โ Scott said. โNot this one particularly, but many of our stations are just running too many calls.โ To address this issue, fire officials are working with dispatchers to send them on more serious medical calls, like car accidents and heart attacks, along with fires โ then shift smaller medical concerns, like sprained ankles or mental health calls, to other responders such as AMR and the Portland Street Response Team.
