Back Taxes Due On Destroyed Janzen Beach Hotel
Published 5:00 pm Monday, September 3, 2012
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Multnomah County says more than $1 million dollars in back taxes are owned on the hotel that was destroyed by fire Sunday night.
It took 20 fire engines and three fire boats to douse the blaze at The Thunderbird Hotel on The Columbia River. Portland’s fire chief says the last time the city saw a five-alarm fire like this was 10 years ago.
Special Agent Chris Porreca, of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, says his agency was called because of the size of the fire and it’s proximity to the river. He says about 30 ATF investigators are now working the site.
“If the fire is determined to be accidental, then it would conclude potentially within a week or so,” Porreca says. “If it’s something that continues into needing more investigation and following up of leads, fire investigations have lasted years, literally.”
The hotel has been vacant since about 2005.
Multnomah County says property tax records for the Thunderbird Hotel are mailed to Howard Dietrich Jr. at the nearby Red Lion Hotel. An executive assistant there says Dietrich is not yet ready to release a statement.
The fire is estimated to have caused $5 million dollars in damage.
This story originally appeared on Oregon Public Broadcasting.