15 people displaced in 2-alarm fire near downtown Eugene 1%
By Bettina Wu9%
8/1/2026, 6:48:04 PM
Topics: Fire
BS Summary: This article contains 0 faulty reasoning types, including no named faulty reasoning patterns yet, with no single egregious example has been isolated yet. Analysis detected 0 faulty-reasoning hits from 437 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 0% and a BS Rank of 1% (25,245 of 25,258 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 99.90% of the article peer group.
A two-alarm fire broke out Aug. 1 at an apartment building near downtown Eugene, displacing more than a dozen people, officials said.
Eugene Springfield Fire responded to the blaze at Bridges on Broadway at about 5:23 p.m., according to PulsePoint.
Fire crews were dispatched to the building after the automatic fire alarm activated, ESF said in a release.
Several residents also called 911 to report smoke in the building.
The incident took up more than half of ESF's on-duty resources, the agency said.
Bridges on Broadway is a 57-unit supportive housing community for people experiencing homelessness staffed by Homes For Good.
The dispatched 22 units to the scene at 599 E.
Broadway, Battalion Chief Riley Martinka said.
Eugene Police closed East Broadway between Mill and Alder streets at 5:52 p.m. for about 90 minutes, the agency said in a release.
Firefighters found residents evacuating the building upon arrival, ESF said in a release.
Crews went inside after receiving reports of a potential burn victim on the fourth floor.
Once inside, firefighters encountered moderate smoke and saw that the fire was contained to a single apartment.
The automatic sprinkler system helped keep the fire at bay while crews addressed smoke and water damage, ESF said.
One resident was taken to PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend with severe burns, Martinka said.
Other onsite medics treated five people for potential smoke inhalation and two others experienced unrelated medical issues during the incident, ESF said.
None of those people were taken to the hospital.
"We made very fast access to the fourth floor, found the apartment through zero visibility conditions and then we were able to contain it in that one room," Martinka said.
Martinka added that crews used one of the two stairwells to evacuate residents while the another crew brought response teams up.
Denise Porter, who lives in the unit directly below the one that caught fire, evacuated without grabbing anything after hearing fire alarms go off.
She said she could see smoke coming out of the window of the residence.
"It just sucks," Porter said.
"I don't know how bad it is yet, and I haven't been inside yet.
I could have an apartment full of water because I think I'm directly below it."
EPD Sgt.
Brett Winther said around 15 people were displaced from their homes.
Homes For Good is helping them find temporary housing.
The cause of the fire is currently unknown.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Bettina Wu is a summer reporting intern at The Register-Guard.
Reach her at bwu@usatodayco.com.
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