The Portland Fire return after 24 years as WNBA expansion team opens the season

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — After 24 years, the Fire have returned to Portland.

The expansion Portland Fire took the court at the city's Moda Center, dubbed the “Fire Pit” for the occasion, for the team's WNBA season opener against the Chicago Sky on Saturday night.

“Yeah, the fire pit was really lit,” guard Sarah Ashlee Barker said with a smile following the game.

The Portland players warmed up wearing T-shirts that said “Legacy Reignited” on the front and “2002 PDX 2026” on the back — paying homage to the original Fire, who played three seasons from 2000-02.

The game was a sellout with an announced attendance of 19,335. Among those in the crowd were Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, Sen. Ron Wyden. “Portlandia” star Carrie Brownstein, and Trail Blazers guard Jrue Holiday and his wife Lauren Holiday, a former player for the U.S. women's national soccer team.

“This is such a good fit for us, and it's practically in our DNA,” Wyden said. “We had Phil Knight who started with sneakers. We've had terrific players who've ended up at colleges all over America. We're showing that Oregon has lots of good things in sports, and basketball is at the top."

The Fire fell 98-83 to the Sky, but the crowd was hardly discouraged: The players were rewarded with a standing ovation as they left the court.

“Just the energy that they brought, they never gave up. They always continued to cheer,” Barker said. “I think just leaning into that and having their support means a lot to us.”

Bridget Carleton said she had heard that Portland fans came out for women's sports. The city is also home to the Portland Thorns of the National Women's Soccer League.

“But even this past week, feeling it on social media, feeling it in the city, going on a walk and people recognize me already, and I hadn’t even played a game. It’s just incredible,” Carleton said. “The amount of support, how excited people were to see us and meet us and be a part of this experience, it’s been surreal.”

Former Portland Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft who died in 2018, was chairman of the original Fire. The Blazers and the Fire shared the then-Rose Garden.

Among the Fire's original players were Jackie Stiles, Vanessa Nygaard and Sylvia Crawley. They averaged some 8,000 fans per game.

The NBA owned the WNBA teams until 2002, then sold them to affiliated NBA teams or independent owners. Allen declined to buy the Fire and the team folded.

Portland was awarded a WNBA franchise in September 2024. The team is run by Raj Sports, led by Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal, who also own the Portland Thorns. They paid $125 million for the Fire.

“This is game-changing for our city, This is cementing the global epicenter of women's sports. Our fan base is going to show up for these players and they're going to show what playing for Portland means. This has been a long time coming and I'm just so excited for the city,” said Karina LeBlanc, executive vice president at Raj Sports for strategic growth and development.

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, right, reacts after a play during the second half of a WNBA basketball game between the Portland Fire and the Chicago Sky, Saturday, May 9, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Portland Fire center Megan Gustafson, center, stands with guard Sarah Ashlee Barker, right, during player introductions before a WNBA basketball game against the Chicago Sky, Saturday, May 9, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Portland Fire players huddle in the tunnel before player introductions before a WNBA basketball game against the Chicago Sky, on Saturday, May 9, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

Portland Fire players are introducted before a WNBA basketball game against the Chicago Sky, on Saturday, May 9, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

Portland Fire players are introduced before a WNBA basketball game against the Chicago Sky, Saturday, May 9, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

TENERIFE, Spain (AP) — A hantavirus-stricken cruise ship with more than 140 people on board has arrived at Tenerife, the largest of Spain’s Canary Islands, off the coast of West Africa, where the passengers and some of the crew are to disembark.

The World Health Organization, Spanish authorities and cruise company Oceanwide Expeditions have said that nobody on board the MV Hondius is currently showing symptoms of the virus. Three people have died since the outbreak, and five passengers who left the ship are infected with hantavirus, which can cause life-threatening illness.

The ship will not dock but will remain at anchor, with people ferried off in small boats. Everyone disembarking will be checked for symptoms, and will only be taken off the ship once evacuation flights are ready to fly them to their destinations.

There are currently people of more than 20 different nationalities on board.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, along with Spain’s health and interior ministers, were to be supervising the evacuation of the ship. Authorities have said the passengers and crew members who will disembark will have no contact with the local population.

Hantavirus usually spreads when people inhale contaminated residue of rodent droppings and isn’t easily transmitted between people. But the Andes virus detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases. Symptoms usually show between one and eight weeks after exposure.

Authorities are aiming to complete the evacuation flights on Sunday and Monday, the director of the WHO’s Department of Epidemic and Pandemic Management, Maria Van Kerkhove, said in a briefing Saturday.

Both the U.S. and the U.K. have agreed to send planes to evacuate their citizens. Americans are to be quarantined at a medical center in Nebraska.

All Spanish passengers will be transferred to a medical facility and quarantined. Oceanwide has listed 13 Spanish passengers and one Spanish crew member on board.

Those disembarking will leave behind their luggage, and will be allowed to take only a small bag with essential items, a cellphone, charger and documentation.

Some crew, as well as the body of a passenger who died on board, will remain on the ship, which will sail on to the Netherlands where it will undergo disinfection, Spanish authorities said.

Passengers at the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius after arriving at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A passenger stands at the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius after its arrival at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Civil Guard officers patrol next to the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius after its arrival at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

View from the bridge of the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius after its arrival at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (AP Photo)

A passenger checks his camera inside his cabin on the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, during the voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo)

A passenger on the the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, takes a photo of the ship's weighing anchor in Praia, during the voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo)

Passengers on the the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius, watch epidemiologists board the boat in Praia, during their voyage to Spain's port of Tenerife, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo)

The hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius is seen at anchor after arriving at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

The hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius is seen at anchor after arriving at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

The hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius is seen at anchor after arriving at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Workers set up temporary shelters in the area where passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship are expected to arrive at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, speaks to the media near the area where passengers from the MV Hondius are expected to arrive at the port of Port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

The hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius is seen at anchor after arriving at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)