My wife and I owe the heroes of Bend Fire & Rescue a huge, probably un-repayable debt.

On June 2, I returned to our summer home here and went about the many tasks of opening up the house. As was my pattern, I turned on the pilot lights for both of our gas fireplaces, ran them for about an hour and turned them off.

About an hour later the TV in the great room lost power. I immediately checked the breaker box, finding it to be OK. I then plugged the TV into another wall socket and it worked fine. Next, I went into the main bedroom, which shares a wall with the great room, to investigate. I heard fire crackling in the wall above the fireplace and in the attic; surprising since I did not smell smoke!

I called 911 and the fire department was there in a few minutes in full force. What a response: four fire trucks, more than 10 firefighters, the assistant fire marshal, along with senior fire and police personnel as well as the building inspector. They immediately went about their respective tasks and the fire was quickly extinguished.

In order to put out the fire, they had to tear down the ceiling and cut holes in the roof, but were able to salvage about three-quarters of the structure. They told me the fire had gone vertical and that it’s entirely possible the whole house could have burned in a very short time.

Because the fire began in the wall and attic, if I had decided to lay down to rest after my travels from the East Coast, it could have burned to the point of tens of thousands of roof tile caving in before the smoke detectors were triggered. I feel very lucky.

My wife returned 5 days after I got back, thank goodness! She and I have been gradually pulling together what we can to restore our summer to some sense of normal. We now know that it will take up to a year to fully restore our home. Central Oregon Disaster Recovery is managing the restoration of our home to its original condition, and have made our upside-down lives much better. They are doing a wonderful job!

The cause of the fire was a faulty installation of the bedroom fireplace 22 years ago. The framer laid the horizontal flue on bare wood instead of creating a buffer between the two, and after 22 years of heating up, the flash point of the old and dry wood was reduced to the point that it caught fire.

My wife and I extend our sincere and whole-hearted appreciation to our brave firefighters, police and other city officials. The Bend firefighters saved our home with a quick, coordinated response. It brings tears to my eyes for their bravery and caring as they go about their everyday jobs. They all need big pay raises!

I would suggest that if you have any doubts about the installation of your fireplaces that you have them inspected. It could save your home and possibly your life and those of your family members.

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