Major gas leak in NW Portland, buildings evacuated

Fire crews have taken action on a major natural gas leak in downtown Portland Tuesday morning.

Portland gas leak incident

Portland Fire & Rescue tweeted at 9:14 a.m. that firefighters were sent to the incident area near NW 8th and NW 11th Avenue between Burnside Street and Davis Street.

“Crews on scene of a natural gas major between NW 8th-11th between Burnside and Davis. AVOID the area. PFR working with @PacificPower_OR and @nwnatural to mitigate the leak and evacuate necessary persons/ buildings in the area.” – Portland Fire & Rescue 

PF&R is advising the public to avoid the area. There are many businesses, including Powell’s City of Books within those blocks.

Power outage happening due to gas leak

A power outage was seen in a large part of the area, all the way up to Jefferson Street, around 10 am. Crews with Pacific Power and NW Natural have also responded to stop the gas leak.

A recent tweet from the Portland Fire & Rescue Twitter account says:

NW portland burnside to Davis 9th to 11th: major gas leak under roadway, evacuations happening now in area indicated on map. Power outages downtown. PLEASE AVOID AREA. more info to come. **Media staging NW Park and Davis**

Police confirmed that streets and sidewalks are closed in at least a block in each direction from Northwest 10th Avenue and Northwest Couch Street. Police are assisting to facilitate the evacuation of buildings.

The Portland Streetcar reported its NS Line has blocked on NW 10th Avenue at NW Couch Street due to the emergency response.

Powell’s Books which is nearby to the affected area closed its downtown store.

“Our downtown store will be closed today. Stay tuned for updates on our Cedar Hills Crossing and Hawthorne locations.” – Powell’s Books  

NW Natural has temporarily suspended gas supply to hundreds of customers. Pacific Power teams have discontinued power in buildings in the downtown area due to the gas leak. Almost 2,400 customers are affected at this time.

“Natural gas service to the entire area of NW 9th and Couch is now off. We will work to vent gas so odor in the area may be strong. We will begin work soon to complete assessment and repairs in the area, which may take the day. After that, we will move on to relight customers,” NW Natural says in a new tweet.