One Dead After Fiery Crash, Explosives Found at Portland Social Club

PORTLAND, Oregon – A man is dead after a vehicle crashed through the front entrance of the Multnomah Athletic Club early Saturday morning, triggering a major police investigation when authorities discovered possible explosives inside the car.

Portland Fire and Rescue responded just before 2:50 a.m. local time to reports that a vehicle had driven through a window of the downtown social club and become engulfed in flames. After the fire was controlled, one person was found dead inside the vehicle.

Speaking at a press conference hours after the incident, Portland Police Commander Jim Crooker said employees first spotted a vehicle moving slowly around the location before it entered the club through a window and continued driving inside.

“Police responded very quickly and realized there was a deceased person inside the vehicle,” Crooker said. He noted that authorities activated extensive resources “out of an abundance of caution,” particularly given Portland’s upcoming role as a FIFA World Cup host city.

“We just wanted to make sure that this event wasn’t related to anything that could be considered domestic terrorism or anything of that nature,” Crooker added.

Police Chief Bob Day confirmed that investigators do not believe the incident is connected to a crash at the same location several weeks ago that injured a security officer.

“These events are unrelated in our opinion,” Day said. “Bad luck or bad timing for the Multnomah Athletic Club.”

Day also assured the public that the incident appears isolated. “We feel confident in assuring the community that there are no other threats, that this is an isolated event not related to domestic terrorism,” he said.

Special Agent in Charge Doug Olson of the FBI’s Portland office praised the coordination among federal and local partners. “Our special agent bomb technicians sit on the team that responded to the incident along with a plethora of other federal and local partners,” Olson said. “We have our evidence response team here to process the scene once it’s been cleared by the bomb technicians.”

Jim DeFrain, supervisor of the Metro Explosive Disposal Unit and a Portland Police officer, provided details on the hazardous conditions inside the club.

“Myself and the arson investigator made an immediate entry. When we arrived a little after 4:00 this morning, we found a number of what we believed were incendiary devices and improvised explosive devices,” DeFrain said. “Some of those devices had already gone off. There was also a number of devices that were left in different states.”

DeFrain described the scene as “by far the most complex scene that I’ve ever dealt with” in his 13 years as a bomb technician. He noted that propane tanks were found inside the vehicle and that crews had discovered multiple devices, with new ones still being located even as he prepared for the press conference.

“There’s a couple inches of water on the floor in there. It is a very, very difficult place to be working,” he added. “My folks are in there and they’ve been in there for about 14 hours now.”

Authorities confirmed that all explosive devices were contained within the vehicle, based on video evidence. “We know with a pretty high level of confidence that it was all contained when he went in,” DeFrain said.

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson thanked first responders for preventing a potentially larger catastrophe. “Portland Fire got the call early and responded with their quick work, their training. They took a possible catastrophic event and we’re here talking about a tragic event instead,” Wilson said.

The mayor also expressed condolences for the individual who lost his life. “We’ll certainly provide those condolences. But when we come to think about it, we always have opportunities to help individuals out,” he said.

Charles Leverton, general manager of the Multnomah Athletic Club, described the 135-year-old institution as “shaken” but resilient.

“Our community obviously is shook right now,” Leverton said. “We’ve got two priorities: one, helping support law enforcement in their investigation, and secondarily, just making sure our community is embraced and working through this.”

Leverton noted that the MAC is a 22,000-person nonprofit community. “MAC is a community, not a building,” he said. “We’ve gone through some tough times and we’ll get through this as well.”

Authorities have not yet identified the deceased individual. Chief Day explained that the Medical Examiner’s Office is the only entity authorized to release the person’s identity, and that examiners have been unable to access the body due to ongoing risks from unexploded devices.

The investigation remains active, with the explosive disposal unit expected to continue processing the scene for another six to eight hours. Authorities do not anticipate another media briefing on Saturday or Sunday.