Engine 3 responding to a fire at SW 12th Avenue and SW Washington Street, 1910.
City of Portland (OR) Archives, Engine 3 at 12th & Washington fire, onlookers crowd the streets, A2001-083, 1910.
SW 12th Avenue, 1910
Vintage Portland
Engine 3 responding to a fire at SW 12th Avenue and SW Washington Street, 1910.
City of Portland (OR) Archives, Engine 3 at 12th & Washington fire, onlookers crowd the streets, A2001-083, 1910.
Vintage Portland 
Some very elaborate women’s hats there.
This is one of the best photos I’ve seen on VP in my several years’ subscribing to it!!!
There are so many well dressed people out and about in this photo it makes me think it was taken on a sunny, church going Sunday. The number of black umbrellas in use here for shade is quite uncommon in photos, but this was during the Edwardian era and not the Victorian; where women used frilly elaborate umbrellas for shade.
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.5218238,-122.6832486,3a,75y,344.37h,79.78t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sJ5Ni4OEo7Abi5ngth4Cizw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en&authuser=0
The fire may be at SW 12th & Washington, but it looks like the photo was taken from SW 12th & Morrison with the distinct roofline of the First Presbyterian Church on the right.https://goo.gl/maps/3bG1CxpUwsBrsBNq8
Yes the Porte Cochere of the 1st Presbyterian Church is unmistakenable, it is indeed SW Morrison. Interesting that all the smoke in the picture seems to be coming from the Steam powered pumper, Hard to tell where the fire was, although it appears to be possibly the house next door because that is where they parked the equipment..
Jim is right!
this same image was posted in 2012. additional information can be found in the comments from that post.
Maybe it’s Easter Sunday, lots of people, and LOTS of fancy hats.
Yes, a terrific photo, and so rare to see such an expansive action scene from that era.
I note that there are a few people on the far side of the hedge, suggesting the fire is still some distance away. And it must have occurred at church service time. Possibly a chimney fire or kitchen stove fire could have been the culprit.
From the post and link of Lee from 2012 and previous sets of well-researched posts, it was a house fire at 128 12th between Morrison and Alder (not Washington as one Newspaper account reported. It occurred on June 9th during the Rose Festival and blocked the parade. It was the site of the future location of the Danmore Hotel which ran for a full half block on Morrison between 12th and 13th Streets. and blocked views of the church’s rose-patterned stained glass on the south end of the small chapel. The Danmore Hotel was later built in two stages; the west end first in 1912, and the second stage at the east end in about 1922. The east abutted the Porte Cochere.
here is the Oregonian article (bottom middle)
https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83025138/1910-06-10/ed-1/seq-15/
Ahhh Coal Smoke and horse barn.
I can still smell that wonderful Firehouse aroma.
Hard to believe this photo was taken one year before my grandfather graduated from college. Then the 1st WW. So much has changed since then.
Lee, thanks so much for the newspaper link. It was very interesting to read about the people who owned/lived in the house that burned, and their estimates of the cost of the damage! Thanks to all of you today who added so much to this day’s post.
How do you find back issues of The Oregonian on line?
Drew —
You can go to the University of Oregon’s site, “Historic Oregon Newspapers” for papers dating from 1846-2019.
https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/
The site says: ODNP is committed to providing free online access to historic Oregon newspapers. This is made possible with the support of federal and state grants, the UO Libraries, and through private donations.
Also, if you have access to the Multnomah County Public Library, The Historic Oregonian is available as one of the online “Research Tools” on its website:
https://multcolib.org/
Any librarian would be glad to show you how to use it.
Thanks!
Good catch Lee.