EARLY MORNING FIRE DESTROYS POPULAR PRIMETIME SPORTS BAR

Just before 4:00 on Wednesday (November 23, 2011) a passerby called 9-1-1 to report that smoke was coming from the Primetime Sports Bar in the 4200 block of Pacific Avenue. When firefighters arrived they initially did not see any flames, but found heavy black smoke inside the restaurant. Crews from Forest Grove and Cornelius quickly went to work to try and find where the fire was located but they soon discovered that the fire had already spread to the attic space and was burning throughout the structure that supports the roof of the building. At this point with an established fire burning so quickly inside the building, Incident Commanders made a tactical decision for firefighter safety to remove all crews from the building and fight this fire defensively from the outside. Within minutes flames began to show as the roof structure failed and our Incident Command Team requested a second and third alarm to bring in firefighters from every fire agency in Washington County in to control the massive blaze. Ladder trucks from Forest Grove and Hillsboro were set up to spray thousands of gallons of water per minute into the burning structure that had collapsed into the shell of the building and firefighters from different departments worked seamlessly side by side as they operated streams of water from hand held hoses and used power tools to tear into the building and extinguish the fire. Eventually Incident Commanders had to call in heavy equipment from the Public Works Departments of the cities of Forest Grove and Cornelius to pull apart the stubbornly burning debris from the dining area which had by that time collapsed in on itself so that crews could get close enough to the remaining hot spots to extinguish them. A firefighter from our Gales Creek Station was injured during the firefighting efforts, suffering chest pains, and was transported to Tuality Hospital in Hillsboro where he was treated and released showing signs of over-exertion.

As fire investigators worked to determine the cause of the devastating fire, firefighters worked to save what they could from the popular local hang out. Crews brought out memorabilia that had been autographed by sports legends like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Ken Griffey Jr., as well as historic photos of Forest Grove from the large banquet room that was considered the least damaged part of the building. Firefighters were also able to dig through the collapsed building to recover the safe which had the paychecks for the employees as well as the money from the business. A team of fire investigators from Forest Grove Fire & Rescue, the Hillsboro Fire Department, and the Insurance Company that covered the business worked through out the day to narrow down what was responsible for the fire and have so far been able to confirm that the fire is accidental in nature but an official cause is not being released at this time.

Primetime Sports Bar has been an icon in the Forest Grove business scene for decades, not just for their great food, but their support of community projects. It's a popular place to catch a bite to eat while you enjoyed the big game, and with it being one of the largest restaurants in Forest Grove it always was one of the great places for big groups, and by the volume of comments on social media sites like Facebook you can tell that it's loss is strongly felt in our community. It's an ironic fact that because of Primetime's large seating areas, hours of operation, and quality of food that it was a frequent place where Forest Grove and Cornelius Firefighters would gather to grab a hot meal after working long hours on a fire somewhere in our community. With the holidays approaching our Fire Chaplains are working with the owners of Primetime to establish a list of needs for the families of the employees and a fund to assist has also been set up at the Columbia Community Bank in Forest Grove. Our thoughts are with the employees and owners of Primetime as they try and recover from this loss, we wish all of them the best.