A Portland deli was accidentally torched by a woman going through its garbage while a popular bottle drop site was shuttered because of homelessness and vagrancy as the progressive Oregon city continues to battle serious social issues.
The Oregon city has been dealing with a years-long crime wave and quality of life issues since 2020, though violent offenses have recently come down from record highs. Property crime remains elevated and homelessness has long been increasing.
The fire at Elephants Delicatessen happened early on Tuesday morning, The Oregonian reported.
Authorities arrested Catherine E. Stough, 56, and charged her with reckless burning and criminal mischief.
She was accused of using a torch to look inside garbage cans near the deli and unintentionally lit items inside them on fire. The blaze then spread to the roof and the interior of the deli.
The business owner said he wasn’t sure when it would reopen or how much it would cost to fix the damage.
Meanwhile, the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative (OBRC) announced Wednesday that the BottleDrop site in Delta Park will close on July 31, The Oregonian reported.
The OBRC, a private firm, runs more than two dozen other full-service redemption sites, where residents can turn in cans and bottles for 10 cents apiece.
Pictured: Elephants Delicatessen in Portland caught on fire on Tuesday after authorities say a woman accidentally lit garbage cans near the business. The resulting blaze spread to the roof and into the interior of the building
Catherine E. Stough, 56, was arrested in connection with the fire and charged with reckless burning and criminal mischief
A day later, the private firm that operates this Oregon BottleDrop, announced it would be closing the location in July. The landlord had been complaining for years about a buildup of homeless drug users in the area driving away other businesses
The landlord for the OBRC’s Delta Park location would not renew the lease because the area became a magnet for drug dealers and users to gather.
Neighboring businesses have said it is common to see ‘canners’ – those redeeming the bottle deposits – passed out in the parking lot or sidewalk outside.
In May 2025, reporters with The Oregonian witnesses people using drugs outside this BottleDrop site.
‘After an extensive search for a suitable alternative site, we determined that shifting to a different container redemption solution for the area was the most effective path forward,’ Devon Morales, vice president of strategy and outreach, told The Oregonian in an email.
Multiple businesses, including a Dick’s Sporting Goods, that shared space with the troubled BottleDrop location did not renew their leases, with some of them citing the homeless people as the reason for their departure.
Vanessa Sturgeon, president of TMT Development, which leased the space to the BottleDrop in 2014, said its departure will be a ‘turning point for the shopping center’.
Sturgeon said the BottleDrop’s lease ends in September, but the fact that its closing in July will give the OBRC time to return the space to how it was before.
‘We just need to see the condition when it’s restored, and then we will put it up for lease,’ Sturgeon said.
