Portland firefighters now say there's no proof that a rash of fires at homeless camps over the past two months were set intentionally—a possibility investigators had been looking into.
After poring over records from fire calls to figure out which originated at the city's increasingly controversial campsites, Portland Fire and Rescue officials say it appears there have been nine "homeless tent fires" since February, according to PF&R spokesperson Lt. Rich Tyler.
"The cause is listed as undetermined on eight of the nine fires," Tyler tells the Mercury. "The cause of the ninth fire is listed as misuse of heat. None of the fires are listed as arson."
While he made clear the number of fires at camps might change, Tyler says the causes of the fires won't. Officials simply can't determine what began most of the conflagrations.
The possibility of arson was raised in investigators' minds as fires popped up more and more in recent weeks. One day last week, there were two blazes at the same NW Portland camp.