Northeast of downtown Portland lies the vibrant neighborhood of Sullivan’s Gulch. However, within its grid of mature trees and large homes lies a corner apparently too complex for drivers that every year, at least one car crashes into the house located at its unfortunate apex.
Thirty cars in 30 years. That’s the current tally, said longtime resident Mike Powers to KGW8 following a Christmas Eve crash that set a vehicle ablaze. Powers and his wife have lived next to the property that has been an unintended target of unskilled drivers who fail to navigate the clearly marked 15-mph turn. However, the intersection of NE Weidler Street and NE 24th Avenue could very well have claimed more vehicular victims prior to the Powers’ arrival. Residents have long complained about the obvious roadway issue, but their requests have fallen on deaf ears.
“I think what’s most important here is neighbors come together and organize around the intersection,” said neighbor Nels Pierson. “I know people have been fighting long and hard to change the roadway design, and this is the moment we need to do it.”
Based on Google Maps Street View, the left-only turn isn’t quite a hairpin, but it’s not a sweeper either. And even though the neighborhood’s speed limit is a slow roll of 20 mph, NE Weidler Street is a one-way eastbound thoroughfare that, for two blocks before the infamous intersection, has no stop sign or speed humps to slow down vehicles. That creates a flat quarter-mile straightaway for whatever your right foot desires.
If you know the unimpeded left turn is coming, you hit the brakes. If you don’t know, the house straight ahead will inform you with a smack upside your vehicle’s front end. If you’re inebriated, then you have bigger problems than turning left, you dingbat.
In the latest incident, a Lincoln Navigator driver misjudged the corner, crashed into the front porch of the 110-year-old home, and ruptured a gas meter. The impact blew out the windows of Powers’ home, which he said felt like “a bomb went off.” When Portland Fire & Rescue (PF&R) responded to the house fire at 11:14 p.m., it found that the SUV was, luckily, sitting atop the rupture line and deflecting the flames away from the home—even though images of the blaze appeared otherwise.
“When the car struck the gas meter, the gas was naturally flowing from the underground line through the vehicle,” said Rick Graves, PF&R public information officer. “Flames were being deflected by the vehicle, so the entire house appeared like it was on fire.”
In a Facebook post, PF&R further explained that there was no available street valve to turn off the gas, so fire crews created a water curtain to keep the flames away while a crew member applied a clamp to the gas feeder line. To further prevent an explosive reaction, PF&R allowed the flowing gas to burn while separately applying water directly onto the house to mitigate the fire spreading to the rest of the property.
KGW8 reported that smoke entered the home via broken windows, but there was no fire damage to the interior. Also, outside of the destroyed front porch, exterior structural damage was minimal and limited to the front and side walls.
One resident did escape the four-unit, three-story house and PF&R provided oxygen to a cat found in the residence. The American Red Cross is assisting the displaced residents, whose numbers also remain unknown due to the holidays and people being out of town. No further information was available regarding the Lincoln driver.