The Pomona Hotel fire occurred on July 7, 1975 when Roy Jennings Beard, a 57-year-old transient in northwest Portland, Oregon, United States, set the building ablaze in an act of arson on the second floor. A total of eight people died during the initial fire, and an additional four succumbed to injuries in the subsequent weeks and months, making it the deadliest fire in the city's history. [1] A total of 26 others were injured in the fire. [1]
At approximately 11 p.m. on July 7, 1975, a fire broke out inside the Pomona Hotel (located within the former Erickson Saloon Building) [2] on Burnside Street in northwest Portland, Oregon, in what was at the time considered "one of the toughest, largest skid rows on the West Coast”. [1] At this time, the hotel catered mainly to the impoverished, with rooms for 80 cents per night. [1] Firefighters arrived after being notified of the fire shortly after it started, and trapped men were visible from the hotel's third floor screaming for help. [1] One firefighter recalled men "hanging by their fingertips" from third floor ledges of the building. [3] The fire, which charred the majority of the 100-room hotel's hallways and doors, [1] was put out, and the majority of the bodies recovered were discovered in the halls, where residents and guests had collapsed while trying to escape. [1]
Firefighters estimated the blaze reached a maximum of 1,000 °F (538 °C) on the building's third floor, [1] and it caused approximately $135,000 in damage. [4] It was determined by firefighters that the fire had begun on the hotel's second floor, where gasoline had been poured to ignite the blaze, [5] and that the building did not have proper sprinkler systems installed. [3]
A total of eight decedents were recovered from the hotel after the fire, all of whom perished from asphyxiation via carbon monoxide poisoning; [6] an additional 26 individuals sustained significant injuries (eight of whom were listed as being in critical condition per a July 9 report). [7] Of these 26 individuals, a further four would succumb to their injuries in the subsequent weeks and months, making the total death count 12.
Publicly identified victims:
In the early morning hours of July 8, law enforcement arrested 61-year-old John Joseph Newvine, a skid row resident, on eight charges of arson and murder, respectively. [1] Law enforcement was led to Newvine after an attendant from a nearby gas station informed them that a suspicious man had purchased two gallons of gasoline shortly before the fire broke out. [1] An empty gasoline canister was discovered lying in an intersection adjacent to the hotel. [1] Newvine was described as an "unemployed loner" who had been through local "alcohol detoxication program[s]" a total of 22 times. [14] At the time of the fire, he was a resident of another hotel, the Home Hotel, also located on skid row. [14] However, on July 10, the charges against Newvine were dropped after the gas station attendant retracted his identification, claiming he misidentified Newvine. [5]
Roy Jennings Beard, 57, was subsequently arrested and charged in the fire. [15] On July 15, Beard was sent to Oregon State Hospital for psychiatric evaluation, after investigators deduced that he was not "in a position to appreciate what he has been charged with." [16] After evaluation, a tentative trial date of September 15, 1975, was set for Jennings, at that time for 11 counts of murder. [17]
Corvallis is a city in and the county seat of Benton County in central western Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton County. As of the 2023 Census Population Estimates, the population was 61,087, making it the 9th most populous city in Oregon. This does include the 38,000 Oregon State University students attending classes in Corvallis, over 5,250 of which live in one of 16 residence halls on the main campus. Corvallis is the location of Oregon State University 420-acre main campus, Samaritan Health Services, a top 10 largest non-profit employer in the state, a 84-acre Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center campus, and a 2.2 million square foot, 197-acre Hewlett Packard research and development campus that invented the Laser jet printer and the Computer mouse. Corvallis is a part of the Silicon Forest Corvallis is the westernmost city in the contiguous 48 states with a population larger than 50,000.
KPXG-TV is a television station licensed to Salem, Oregon, United States, broadcasting the Ion Television network to the Portland area. Owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company, the station has offices on Southwest Naito Parkway in downtown Portland, and its transmitter is located in the Sylvan-Highlands section of the city.
The Corvallis Gazette-Times is a daily newspaper for Corvallis, Oregon, United States. The newspaper, along with its sister publication, the Albany Democrat-Herald of neighboring Albany, Oregon, is owned by Lee Enterprises of Davenport, Iowa.
The Oregon State Capitol is the building housing the state legislature and the offices of the governor, secretary of state, and treasurer of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located in the state capital, Salem. Constructed from 1936 to 1938 and expanded in 1977, the current building is the third to house the Oregon state government in Salem. The first two capitols in Salem were destroyed by fire, one in 1855 and the other in 1935.
Oregon Route 99E is an Oregon state highway that runs between Junction City, Oregon and an interchange with I-5 just south of the Oregon/Washington border, in Portland. It, along with OR 99W, makes up a split of OR 99 in the northern part of the state. This split existed when the route was U.S. Route 99, when the two branches were U.S. 99W and U.S. 99E.
Baker City Tower or Baker Tower is the tallest building east of the Cascade Range in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in Baker City. It was constructed in 1929 in the Art Deco style and is nine stories high. It is part of the Baker Historic District and listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It was designed by the Portland office of architectural firm Tourtellotte & Hummel. The general contractor was John Almeter of Portland and the roofing contractor was Cook & Emele of Baker City.
The Portland Timbers were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1975 to 1982. The team was based in Portland, Oregon and played their home games at Civic Stadium for outdoor matches and the Memorial Coliseum for indoor games. The nickname "Soccer City, USA" to refer to Portland was coined during the team's first season. The team folded at the conclusion of the 1982 North American Soccer League season.
The Pac-12 Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is a currently dormant award given to the Pac-12 Conference's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1975–76 season, when the conference was known as the Pacific-8, and was determined by voting from the Pac-12 media and coaches. On August 2, 2024, 10 of the 12 members departed from the conference. The Pac-12 continues to operate as a two-team conference for at least the 2024–25 academic year, sponsoring four sports – football, track & field, women's gymnastics and wrestling. On September 12, 2024, the Pac-12 announced the admission of four new universities effective July 2026: Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, and San Diego State. According to the press release, "Oregon State University and Washington State University are currently operating as members of the Pac-12 Conference as part of an NCAA two-year grace period and will continue to do so for the 2025–26 academic season before the four new members officially join. The collective six universities will collaboratively chart additional membership and other future conference considerations."
Grahamona was a sternwheel steamboat built in 1912 for the Oregon City Transportation Company, commonly known as the Yellow Stack Line. Grahamona was specially designed to serve on the shallow waters of the upper Willamette River. It was one of the largest steamboats ever to operate on the upper Willamette. In 1920, Grahamona was sold and the name was changed to Northwestern. In 1939, the vessel was sold again, and transferred to Alaska for service on the Kuskokwim River.
Three Sisters was a sternwheel-driven steamboat that operated on the Willamette River from 1886 to 1896. The steamer was built as an extreme shallow-draft vessel, to permit it to reach points on the upper Willamette river such as Corvallis, Harrisburg and Eugene, Oregon during summer months when water levels in the river were generally low. The vessel was also known for having been washed up on a county road in Oregon during a flood in 1890.
Alice was a stern-wheel driven steamboat that operated on the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the 1870s and 1880s. Alice was the largest vessel built above Willamette Falls and was considered in its day to be the "Queen of the River". This steamer was rebuilt after near-destruction in a fire at Oregon City, Oregon in May 1873. In 1876, it was withdrawn from the upper Willamette River and transferred to the Columbia River, where it was worked as a towboat moving ocean-going ships to and from Portland and Astoria, Oregon, near the mouth of the Columbia River.
The 1899 Oregon Agricultural Aggies football team represented Oregon Agricultural College as an independent during the 1899 college football season. In their first and only season under head coach Hiland Orlando Stickney, the Aggies compiled a 3–2 record and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 76 to 60. The Aggies lost to Oregon, 38–0. Fred Walters was the team captain.
The 1895 Oregon Agricultural Aggies football team represented Oregon Agricultural College during the 1895 college football season. The team was a member of the Oregon Intercollegiate Football Association. In their first and only year under head coach Paul Downing, the Aggies compiled a 0–2–1 record and were outscored by their opponents by a combined total of 82 to 6.
Fanny Patton was a stern-wheel driven steamboat that operated on the Willamette River, in Oregon, starting in August 1865. This steamer operated from 1865 to 1880 for various owners, and was a considered a profitable vessel. The steamer was named for the daughter of businessman Edwin N Cook, Frances Mary "Fannie" Cooke (1837–1886). Edwin N. Cook was one of the principals of the People's Transportation Company.
Christine Renee Drazan is an American politician who served in the Oregon House of Representatives from the 39th district from 2019 to 2022, as a member of the Republican Party. During her tenure in the state house she served as the minority leader from 2019 to 2021. She was the Republican nominee in the 2022 Oregon gubernatorial election, which she narrowly lost to Democrat Tina Kotek. As of 2024 she is seeking the Republican nomination for a seat in the state house for the 51st district.
N.S. Bentley, commonly referred to as simply Bentley, was a stern-wheel driven steamboat that operated on the Willamette rivers. Launched in East Portland in December 1886, Bentley ran until 1896, when it was rebuilt and renamed Albany. Bentley was owned by the Oregon Pacific Railway, and was used as part of a rail and marine link from Portland to San Francisco, running down the Willamette, then to Yaquina Bay, and then by ocean steamer south to California. In 1896, Bentley was rebuilt and renamed Albany.
KVDO-TV was a television station broadcasting on channel 3 in Salem, Oregon, United States, that operated between 1970 and 1983. Originally intended as a local independent station serving the Willamette Valley, financial considerations resulted in a contested sale to Liberty Television, owner of KEZI in Eugene, Oregon, in 1972. However, for media concentration reasons, the Federal Communications Commission ordered KVDO-TV sold within three years. As a result, the Oregon Educational and Public Broadcasting Service (OEPBS) acquired KVDO-TV in 1976, resulting in a station that often—and controversially—duplicated OEPBS's transmitters at Portland and Corvallis.