Community 'very sad' about devastating fire at Pacific Market
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- A fire ripped through the home of Northeast Portland's Pacific Market early Tuesday morning, and while officials say no one was injured in the fire, the community is feeling a huge loss.
After more than three decades of shopping in this large Asian supermarket, there's nothing but ashes left behind.
"We feel very sad that the fire happened to the supermarket," said Thao Tu, president of the Vietnamese Community of Oregon. "It has been connected to the community for a long time. I've been living in Portland since July 1991."
On Thursday, Portland fire crews came back to the strip mall to put out hotspots.
"You have hot products tucked away underneath other objects that covered it so you don't penetrate it with water stream," said Rick Graves with Portland Fire & Rescue.
The community hopes Pacific Market will open its doors again, but it's unclear when.
"It's a cool sensation (to) go into this Asian market and be in this community that's so thriving and there's multiple languages being spoken and the availability of these food sources that we only see on vacation," Graves said.
"When we first came to Portland to resettle in the U.S., we lived in Halsey apartment square and we can walk to the store. It was a destination for many people including firefighters," Tu added. "We hope that the owner will consider to rebuild the store so people in the community will come back."