Firefighter thrown up to 20 feet in Portland gas explosion
PORTLAND, Ore. — An injured firefighter who’s being hailed as a hero for helping to evacuate a building before a powerful gas explosion in a Portland shopping district said Thursday he was tossed up to 20 feet by the blast.
The explosion hurt eight people Wednesday morning, demolished a three-story historic building and ignited a fire that sent a plume of smoke over the city. Three firefighters, two police officers and three civilians were injured.
None of the injuries were life-threatening.
Portland Fire & Rescue Lt. Peter St. John blacked out after the explosion and awoke in pain as chaos unfolded around him, he said in an interview Thursday from his hospital bed.