PHOTO: Beau Blixseth’s tire pile caught fire—again.
Crews from Portland Fire & Rescue responded to reports Monday morning of acrid smoke from the three-story mountain of shredded tires that towers just north of the Steel Bridge beside the old Louis Dreyfus grain terminal. The pile originally caught fire early Thursday morning, closing streets near Moda Center and halting traffic on the Union Pacific rail line that runs near the site.
The rubber reignited early Monday, forcing fire trucks to return.
“It’s a giant pile of rubber, and there were probably some hot spots,” Portland Fire & Rescue spokesman Rick Graves said. “It had enough heat and air to get going.”
The old grain elevator is co-owned by Beau Blixseth, son of Tim Blixseth, the Roseburg timber baron who developed the Yellowstone Club, an ultra-luxe private ski resort in Montana that counts Bill Gates and Justin Timberlake among its members.