A small plane crashed in a residential area east of Portland, Oregon, early Saturday morning, sparking a fire at an apartment complex, authorities said.
Gresham Fire Chief Scott Lewis told reporters the plane crashed into “a three-story row of apartments,” four of which burst into flames.
The crash occurred at about 10:20 a.m. local time in the town of Fairview, about two miles east of Troutdale Airport, the Gresham Fire Department reported. The Federal Aviation Administration told CBS News that the plane that crashed was a twin-engine Cessna 421C. Lewis said the situation began when Troutdale Airport air traffic control reported an “aircraft emergency” and then saw a “pillar of smoke” west of the airport.
“The initial report was that a plane may have crashed into the apartments. We have been able to confirm that this is what happened,” Lewis said, adding that emergency services who arrived at the scene found “heavy fires.”
Lewis said there were believed to be two occupants on the plane, but he could not confirm whether there were any survivors. The director also said a resident of the apartment complex was missing and that two people were being treated at the scene for injuries.
According to him, at least five families have been displaced from their homes.
Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office spokesman John Plock told reporters the plane also knocked down a utility pole and sparked a separate wildfire. The fire was near a “swampy area” and was not spreading.
“At some point during the crash it hit a power pole … which caused it to fall over,” Plock said. “So the power lines fell into some sort of field and started a forest fire.”
Two power lines for utility Portland General were down, but Lewis said it was unclear whether they were directly hit by the plane. Portland General reported that approximately 9,000 customers were without power on Saturday afternoon.
The federal National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation into the cause of the crash, the FAA said. Gresham Fire said they are also conducting their own investigation.
Fairview is located approximately 15 miles east of downtown Portland.
