I can’t remember a year when there were so many fires in Portland relating to food businesses. Sadly, yesterday afternoon there was a fire—an external fire—at the 42nd Ave Fish & Chips restaurant. Nobody was hurt, thankfully, but it’s a tragedy just the same.
Yesterday evening a friend sent me a video clip of the building on fire with the words, “This is the 42nd ave fish place.” Not long after that I saw that it was on the PDX Fire twitter (here’s Facebook if you dislike twitter/X). The Portland Fire & Rescue FlashAlert report also went out yesterday evening with an informative story.
The Fire at 42nd Ave Fish & Chips
Here’s the basic info from the early sighting and work on the fire, via PF&R:
“Portland Fire & Rescue crews battle a fire at 42nd Ave Fish & Chips. A responding crew reported that there was a visible “header” (smoke and fire) en route to the scene, alerting all incoming resources that there is indeed an active fire. First arriving officer reported heavy fire showing from the backside of the 2-story building appearing to be an exterior fire that was moving interior. Additionally, it was reported that there was possibly a living space above the restaurant.”
They shut down NE 42nd Avenue, found downed power lines and power was cut by PGE. “While interior crews were working on extinguishing the fire, additional crews were assigned to search the building for any occupants. There were no occupants found.” They had to cut ventilation holes in the roof, but because it was made of metal, that was an additional challenge (“The corrugated metal required lots of peeling away to expose the fire.”)
15 minutes later the fire was extinguished … or was it?
“… about 45 minutes later an interior crew reported feeling heat and were in search of locating it. Due to multiple remodels, there were several different areas within the building that made it challenging to search with hose lines and find the fire problem, but crews moved aggressively and soon located and extinguished the fire.” Thank goodness.
Big props to Portland Fire & Rescue, BOEC, Portland Police Bureau, and PGE for their help in putting out this fire.
The Owners: Devastated
KOIN, KATU, and KPTV have all reported on this fire. The KPTV article offers the human side of the situation best, with an interview with Saquana Peterson, the owner’s daughter. She was at work at the time and rushed over. Also important to note: a server at the restaurant helped evacuate the building, and deserves a big thanks for saving lives.
Saquana said, “This is kind of devastating because my dad has worked hard for this, he’s put his all into this, he loves fish and chips, so it’s like we’re going to have to start from the ground up. I just can’t believe this happened.” She doesn’t believe he will “give it away,” as “This is his life, he started a business and built this place up so he could travel the world and now we’re here.”
42nd Ave Fish & Chips Had Past Life on NE Alberta
I was reading an old (2017) Concordia Neighborhood Association article featuring 42nd Ave Fish & Chips, and this quote was in it from Aaron Peterson (the owner): “We plan to be here for 10 years or more.” Also, they were originally up on NE Alberta (I believe the old address was 1451 NE Alberta) when it was called Alberta St. Fish & Chips. Aaron talks about how it was a problematic location before for the business: “They couldn’t find us on Alberta,” because of parking issues and crowded sidewalks.
While he was there, that location was a one-story building that was home to an auto body shop and the fish and chips spot. Now it is a new-ish building that has retail on the ground floor and a couple of stories above that, called Alberta 14.
So, 42nd Ave Fish & Chips joins Fifty Licks, OX, Shin Shin Foods, Umi Organic, Caffe and Bar Mingo in being damaged by fire this year. Before that, Reo’s Ribs suffered multiple fires over a number of years. Good news, though: OX has opened back up (as has Reo’s)
Saquana says she plans to open a Gofundme to help recover (Update 8/20/24: here’s the link). I wish the family the best of luck and every good wish as they manage the fallout and aftereffect of this tragic event.
42nd Ave Fish & Chips [closed temporarily]
5302 NE 42nd Avenue, Portland
42ndavefishandchips.com
Updated August 20, 2024.
Meg Cotner
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I hope you’ll follow up with the Go Fund Me link, once it’s set up. Thank you!
I just found it! I’ve added to the article, but here you go: 42nd Ave Fish & Chips GoFundMe link
Thank you!