Union Pacific told the city of Portland that on Sunday, Aug. 9, it will resume freight operations next to the Centennial Mills warehouse that burned in a massive fire.
City officials are calling the decision a significant risk to health and safety, warning that a collapse could injure people on a passing train and damage surrounding property.
On Aug. 2, firefighters responded to a four-alarm fire at the Centennial Mills building along Northwest Naito Parkway in Portland. Flames and smoke billowed from the 116-year-old, eight-story warehouse. After two hours, firefighters got the fire under control.
Firefighters and other emergency personnel monitor and battle a fire in downtown Portland, Ore., on Aug. 2, 2026. The fire was at an abandoned building on northwest Naito Parkway.
Saj Sundaram / OPB
Roads, parks and railways nearby have been temporarily closed due to concerns that the building might collapse.
Since the fire, the city has alerted the property manager that the building will need to be demolished. Removal of the rooftop water tank and demolition will begin no later than Aug. 14, according to city officials.
Amtrak, which uses the nearby tracks at Union Station, has replaced trains with buses between Portland and Seattle until further notice due to the fire.
As part of the resumption, Union Pacific has committed to delaying trains with hazardous materials from using the tracks until Aug. 21.
City officials are urging Union Pacific to take steps to stage a hazmat team near the rail line and install vibration monitors to warn of a looming collapse.
“The safety of our community members and the environment adjacent to the site is our highest concern,” City Administrator Raymond C. Lee III said in a written response to Union Pacific, “and engineers advise that any movement in the area may cause a collapse that will endanger life and property.”
Days after the fire, police K-9 officers found possible human remains in the rubble of what’s left of the hollowed-out structure.
Residents are advised to stay out of the closed area around Centennial Mills and to avoid closed roads.
