One person was found dead early this morning after fire swept through an apartment in an unattached garage in northeast Bend.

Bend firefighters and police responded to the blaze at 2206 NE Shepard Road, several blocks north of Pilot Butte Middle School on Neff Road at about 1:45 a.m.

”The whole apartment was fully involved in fire when we arrived,” Bend Fire Capt. Rob Strong said this morning, standing in front of the burned structure. ”The roof was gone and flames were shooting about 20 feet above the roof line. Some of the trees in back were on fire.”

Neighbors said the arrival of police and firefighters woke them. They saw flames lighting up the sky and trees near the garage on fire.

Strong said firefighters used two 150-gallon-per-minute hoses to douse the flames, attacking it from inside the garage and the front door of the apartment, which is attached to the side of the garage. He estimated the flames were suppressed in about five minutes.

Firefighters who then entered the building found a body lying near the front entrance to the apartment. A medical examiner is scheduled to examine and identify the body today.

The owner of the rental property said a 39-year-old female was living in the apartment. Tenants in the house on the property were not home at the time of the fire.

”Based on our initial observations this looks consistent with a fire-related death,” said Bend police Detective Rob Maddox.

The cause of the fire was still being investigated this morning. The apartment walls and ceiling were missing. Appliances could be seen through the charred framework, and the garage was also severely damaged. Bend Fire Department Battalion Chief Dave Howe estimated the fire caused $37,000 damage.

The fatal fire was the first for Bend since two children lost their lives in a blaze on Southeast Roosevelt Avenue in November 1999, Strong said.

Tom Peterson can be reached by calling 541-383-0304 or by sending an email to Tom Peterson.