Residents of North Portland need not be alarmed this Saturday when Portland Fire & Rescue will set ablaze another two homes along North Interstate. The homes are situated on a piece of property surrounded by North Interstate and Maryland avenues, and Prescott and Skidmore streets, that was purchased last October by Prescott Partners, a development company based outside of Seattle.

The property had originally been selected as the site for an 11,000-square-foot, 115-unit apartment building. The project, with an estimated cost of $30 million, was derailed, however, by the current economic crisis. “Financing has been too hard to come by,” Brendan Lawrence, development manager at Prescott Partners, told The Sentinel.

While the project has remained stagnant, Prescott Partners has received notice from groups potentially interested in purchasing the property. The property has not been sold to date as Prescott Partners further considers the decision.

Portland Fire & Rescue has previously set ablaze other vacant, boarded-up homes located on the property. The homes provide an opportunity for firefighters to conduct "real world" training exercises in a controlled environment.

According to Lawrence, after the homes have been burned, Prescott Partners plans to remove the foundations, storage tanks, and any existing contaminated soil so as to make the site “environmentally clean.” There are also plans to reseed a portion of the property with grass, though it will not be turned into a public park as was reported by the Oregonian in early September.