Bend family loses home, dogs in one of two house fires Monday

Published 9:30 am Tuesday, April 18, 2023

Bend firefighters responded to two separate house fires Monday evening, one of which ended in a family losing its home and two dogs.

Bend Fire & Rescue responded to reports of the first fire at a manufactured home about 6 p.m. on Limelight Drive in the Romaine Village area.

Multiple callers told emergency responders that the home was engulfed in flame that threatened to spread to nearby homes, according to Bend Fire & Rescue Deputy Fire Marshal Dan Derlacki.

Firefighters responded and extinguished the blaze before it spread to surrounding homes and vegetation, Derlacki said in a press release. Firefighters believe the fire started from embers falling out of a stove and igniting materials near the floor of a fireplace. No one was home when the fire started.

Part of the roof caved in, leaving the home a complete loss, Derlacki said.

Damages to the home’s structure and contents are estimated at $50,000, Derlacki said. The family that lived there lost two dogs and received assistance from the Red Cross.

It took roughly two hours for firefighters to clear the fire. While they were doing so, a person at around 7:35 p.m. called 911 and reported another fire on NW Tharp Avenue in the Discovery West neighborhood near Summit High School, Derlacki said.

Firefighters responded to a neighbor who reported seeing smoke coming from a crawl space in the home, which was under construction and had no one living there, Derlacki said. At that point, firefighters found the smoke but no fire.

The fire damage was confined to an area under the home, Derlacki said. Firefighters believe it started as a result of construction work earlier Monday. Damages are estimated at $25,000.