PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- An unfinished $18 million apartment complex was turned into an inferno Tuesday, as a five-alarm fire swept through the complex, wiping out two buildings before it was contained.
More than 125 firefighters battled the fire at the construction site, which sent plumes of smoke billowing over the West Hills. No one was injured, after fire officials stopped the flames from spreading to nearby apartment buildings and homes.
Officials said the half-finished units, located in a cul de sac in the thickly residential Forest Heights neighborhood had no Sheetrock or doors to slow the blaze.
``It was essentially a big pile of matchsticks,'' said Portland Fire Bureau Spokesman Lt. Allen Oswalt. ``It just burned like crazy.''
Firefighters arrived at the site shortly after 1 p.m. Tuesday to find the fire ripping through one of the unfinished, four-story apartment buildings. The flames tore through the rest of the building, then jumped to an adjacent one.
``I came out of my front door and saw blue sky, and then the whole sky immediately went black,'' said neighbor Martha Hotchkiss, who said that construction workers at the site had tried to keep the huge flames from moving up the hill to the homes on her street before the firefighters arrived.
``I saw construction workers grabbing their tools and running,'' said another Forest Heights resident, Bill Brett.
He described what he said looked like ``black rain'' falling from the sky. When he realized they were ashes the size of silver dollars, he and other neighbors rushed to stomp them out.
``I was holding my son and thinking what are the valuable things?'' said Ghada Mohieddin, whose home was one of the closest to the blaze and who was asked to evacuate her residence.
A boom box left behind by construction workers melted, leaving a rivulet of melted metal on the street.
Officials said that they have not yet identified the cause of the fire, though they know which building it began in. Investigators said that although they will investigate all leads, arson does not seem likely.
Called the Forest Creek Apartments, the complex is valued at $18 million, according to the Portland Bureau of Development Services. It was to open this autumn.
