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Portland Fire & Rescue officials are reviewing their codes and policies for buildings under construction.

Their actions come in the aftermath of an alleged arson fire that gutted an apartment complex being built at the corner of Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Monroe Street on Aug. 8.

Lt. Rich Chatman, a public information officer for Portland Fire & Rescue, said the review could result in new codes for what building contractors should do to protect themselves from such fires.

“I can tell you right now that one of the easiest things to do is get a security guard,” Chatman said.

Portland Fire Chief Erin Janssens said at a press conference on Aug. 12 that investigators determined officially that the fire was the result of arson. The amount of damage was set at $5 million.

Officials for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have posted a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the fire. Tips are being accepted by phone at 1-888-ATF-FIRE.

Meanwhile, the project’s general contractor said he and the developer are literally sifting through the rubble.

“We expect to have some clarity this time next week,” Brian Gerritz, president of Pavilion Construction, said last week.

Phase Two Construction, the project’s developer, was insured by Liberty Mutual. Gerritz said a lot of conversations have taken place between him, developer Chris Rogers and Liberty Mutual.

“When we got together, there were more questions than answers,” he said. “It’s a lot of paper grind at the moment. We did get clearance for the subcontractor to demolish the remainder of the structure.

“We’re going to take everything above the concrete slab off and let the structural engineers take a look at it,” he added. “It’s questionable whether anything below the slab can be salvaged because the plastic pipe that was used sustained fire damage.”

As for the specifics of the arson investigation, Gerritz said he knows very little from talking with fire investigators.

“Out of respect for the integrity of their investigation, they shared very little with us that they didn’t share with the general public in terms of the arson investigation,” he said.

Rich Hoover, spokesman for the Oregon Office of the State Fire Marshal, said he is not sure how code changes at the local level might affect buildings under construction.

“There are no such regulations on the state level,” Hoover said. “Things like how many fire extinguishers you have to have on site or how much security, we don’t get into that kind of regulation.”

Gerritz said he didn’t want to comment on any recommendations coming from local fire officials, except to say he has heard several – communicated to him through the Portland Bureau of Development Services.

The five-story apartment complex was 60 to 70 percent finished when the fire broke out, Rogers said in an interview hours after the fire. Construction had been under way for two years, he said.

The 12,000-square-foot complex was designed for 46 market-rate apartments and 14 parking spaces. Architect Ralph Tahran said in an interview last year that plans called for 50 percent one-bedroom units, 40 percent studios and 10 percent two-bedroom units.

Rogers said the building was in a particularly precarious state.

“The building was at its most vulnerable state because it didn’t have Sheetrock yet,” he said at the time. “The wood was just sitting there like a kindling box. It was ready to go.”