The team wore white uniforms at home with red and gold trim, and black on the road with the same trim pattern. Reebok took over production in 2002, with the manufacturer’s logo appearing on jerseys and shorts.
With the No. 4 pick in the 2001 WNBA Draft, the Portland Fire selected Jackie Stiles, the NCAA’s top scorer. Stiles was the first NCAA Division 1 women’s player to record more than 1,000 points in a season, and her D1 career points record of 3,393 would stand for twenty years.
Averaging nearly fifteen points per game, Stiles was named WNBA Rookie of the Year and an All-Star in 2001, but missed most of the following season due to injury.
The teams of the WNBA were collectively owned by the NBA until 2002, when the dot-com crash necessitated their sale. While priority was given to owners of counterpart NBA teams, Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen declined to purchase the Fire, and a group of investors led by Clyde Drexler was unsuccessful. Failing to secure new ownership, the Portland Fire ceased operations after three lackluster seasons, and are the only WNBA to have folded without ever qualifying for the playoffs.
On September 18, 2024, the WNBA awarded a new franchise to Portland. The team will begin play in 2026 at Moda Center.