WHAT HAPPENED TO BURNSIDE?

The short version.

Our Burnside shop was destroyed in a fire in May 2024. The building is being restored by our landlord and we're eager to reopen, but it's not in our hands. We'll be back the moment we get the keys.

 

What exactly happened?

On Friday, May 10, 2024, pretty early in the morning, we got a call that the building was on fire. Our flagship location, our shop on E Burnside and 28th Avenue, was destroyed, as were the other two businesses on the ground floor and the five apartments above us.

 

When I arrived on the scene the streets were blocked off for blocks. I counted 17 emergency vehicles. When I finally got to the shop the door was open, a fan was set up to evacuate smoke, and to my astonishment everything looked fine. A firefighter told me the fire was out and that they suspected we could reopen in a few days. I was overcome with emotion. there's something primal about a fire that opens you up and puts your heart out there. I wept with relief.

 

With the power out I thought I should save the ice cream, so I left to get the truck. When I returned everything had changed. The fire had reignited within the walls and traveled up from the basement through the apartments. Firefighters were spraying everything with water. Others were pulling walls and ceilings apart with pikes to find the flames hidden inside.

 

We owe a particular debt to a 19-year-old tenant who lived upstairs. She woke up when she heard a strange sound, looked out her window, saw smoke and flames rising from the basement, and went door to door until everyone in the building was out. By the time she'd woken her neighbors the hallway was opaque with smoke. She had to leave her cats behind. A firefighter went back in and saved them. Every person and every pet made it out safely. She is a hero and she saved lives and we are grateful to her.

 

Will you ever reopen? What's taking so long?

We are ready to rebuild the moment our landlord hands us the keys. Restoring a century-old building after a fire isn't just about fixing what burned. It triggers a full review of the entire building against current codes: electrical, structural, everything. It's a long and expensive process and it's entirely in our landlord's hands. Fires suck and things just take a long time.

 

And when they do hand us the keys, we'll still have our own buildout ahead of us: plumbing, electrical, flooring, counters, equipment, permitting, health department licensing. It’s a process that will take six months or more. We can't wait to get started.

 

The building looks fine from the outside. Is it really uninhabitable?

Yes. What the fire didn't destroy, the water did. What the water didn't destroy, the smoke did. Smoke from a building fire contains carcinogens from everything that burned. It's acidic, it etches metal, it permanently impregnates every surface. I tried to save just a steel garbage can. After multiple washings it still reeked of toxic smoke. I had to throw it out. Within days, mold began growing in the shop from the water the firefighters had used to save the building. Every surface; drywall, flooring, ceilings, counters all had to be removed. The building was stripped to its beams and has to be re-engineered and rebuilt from there.

 

Want to hear more?

A year after the fire, I sat down with Dave Miller on OPB's Think Out Loud for a 20-minute conversation about what the fire meant for Fifty Licks and what came next. You can listen or read the transcript here.

https://www.opb.org/article/2025/05/27/think-out-loud-portland-ice-cream-fifty-licks-fire/