Portland, OR, Fire and Rescue Investigates Potential Human Remains at Centennial Mills Site
After a Centennial Mills warehouse caught fire, the city opted to do a controlled explosion for demolition; however, Portland Fire and Rescue believes there could still be human remains at the cleanup site.
Weeks after detonation, wrecking crews are still working at the site, according to KOIN 6 News.
Investigators think there's a good chance there are human remains among the debris.
Firefighters discovered over a dozen temporary beds and people inside the vacant structure in June, and police were called multiple times in subsequent months to remove those who had unlawfully set up camp inside.
“We are woven in with the demolition team,” said Rick Graves with Portland Fire and Rescue. “We’ve given them guidance as to what’s important to us. If something is discovered that appears to be of interest, we have the human remains dog detection team at the ready to return and perform more sweeps.”
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Ryan Baker is a writer and associate editor with prior experiences in online and print production. Ryan is an associate editor for Firehouse with a master's degree in sciences of communication from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He recently completed a year of teaching Intro to Public Speaking at UW-Whitewater, as part of his graduate program. Ryan acquired his bachelor's degree in journalism in 2023 from UW-Whitewater, and operates currently out of Minneapolis, MN. Baker, also writes freelances for the Ultimate Frisbee Association (UFA) in his free time, while also umpiring baseball for various ages across the Twin Cities Metro Area.