For most of Bend’s history, people lived in single-family homes and small apartment complexes. The tallest buildings were downtown, and a three-story development was considered a novelty.

But that changed when the city of Bend began permitting taller developments within city limits. Now, Bend is home to more than 67 buildings that stand 50 feet or higher.

The introduction of so-called midrise buildings more than five stories tall, such as the Jackstraw development near the Old Mill District or The Current apartment building on Emkay Drive, means a lot of things: more housing for a growing population, longer construction times and more mixed-use developments.

It also means that Bend Fire & Rescue faces new challenges so that when a fire does break out in one of Bend’s taller multistory buildings, crews are ready to rise to the challenge.

“As soon as we saw the construction of the first (midrise building) happening, it was, ‘oh, we’re not ready for this,’” said Bend Fire Chief Todd Riley. “There were many, many years where the hospital was the tallest building in town — and we were moderately equipped to be successful in that — but now that this is just a part of the landscape, it has to be within our firefighters’ abilities.”

‘It’s a completely different animal’

It’s not just the height of a building that’s different from a single-family home or small apartment complex, Riley explained, virtually everything changes about firefighting from the moment crews get the call.

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“When I say it’s different in every aspect, the only thing that really stays the same is the gear firefighters wear. Everything else is more complicated and takes more time,” Riley said.

To help figure out how to approach getting Bend Fire up to speed on fighting fires in midrise buildings, Riley hired Mike Hand from the Beverly Hills Fire Department as deputy chief of operations.

Beverly Hills is a far cry from Bend in terms of the city skyline, but Hand, who has extensive experience fighting fires in midrise and high-rise buildings, has been instrumental in preparing Bend Fire & Rescue for the realities of fires to come, Riley said.

“The three biggest challenges are going to be access, communication and resources,” said Hand. “The resources that it takes in terms of human capital is more because it’s a bigger building. You have to take control of the systems; you have to address evacuation needs; you have to turn to the standpipes. It’s logistically just a little bit more challenging.”

Take, for example, the use of standpipes versus fire trucks and fire hydrants. When a fire crew is fighting a fire in a single-family home, members could just roll up in the fire truck and start immediately pumping water onto the flames using the engine’s water tanks. But if the fire is in an apartment on the fifth floor of a building, crews would need to carry heavy hoses up through the stairwell and attach them to standpipes that give firefighters access to the building’s plumbing infrastructure. Only then, can firefighters begin to truly tackle the blaze.

Another difference, Hand said, is sorting through data put out by a building’s fire suppression systems. In addition to well-known safety features like internal evacuation stairwells, new buildings of a certain height are often required to have automatic sprinkler systems, fire doors and elevator shaft seals. These systems, while critical because they will work to contain the fire until crews are able to arrive, add yet another level of complexity to the deployment process.

“The good thing is these buildings have a building engineer that’s assigned to them, so we will have their contact information,” Hand said. “The other thing is, when you do get an alarm of any magnitude, all the fire doors would close off the elevator chambers so that smoke can’t travel vertically; fire doors will close so that smoke can’t travel laterally, and it’s going to isolate it to a very small part of the building.”

What is all boils down to is time, Hand and Riley explained. While there are advantages to safety systems legally required in taller buildings, navigating a more complicated system only gives the fire more time to grow before crews start fighting the blaze. That is why Bend Fire & Rescue’s No. 1 goal when training to fight fires in tall buildings, is removing as many barriers to time as possible and making sure crews have the knowledge to dive in without hesitation.

Being proactive, not reactive

To help firefighters get training, Dan Derlacki, deputy fire marshal, recently took crews to the The Current, a six-story apartment building. They spent several hours deploying Bend Fire’s biggest ladder truck on different sides of the building. Firefighters climbed up and down, familiarizing themselves with the new entry methods for fighting a fire in a taller building.

After they practiced deploying the ladder truck, Derlacki and the rest of the crew present went on a tour of the building. During the tour, they familiarized themselves with stairwell layouts and located points where firefighters could hook their hoses up when fighting a fire.

In addition to training, there are several things Bend Fire & Rescue has done to update its equipment and staffing.

“Our engines are great. The initial change that we made was to how our hose was configured, such that a firefighter can pull enough hose initially to get to that fourth or fifth floor so they know that they can operate effectively without having to make too many decisions in real time. That was a real quick change that we made.”

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Then, the department changed the kind of nozzles engines carry, because fighting a fire in a different environment means different water pressure and distance to flames.

Hand also said Bend Fire has increased the number of people on duty every day from 25 to 27 and has existing mutual and automatic aid agreements with adjoining agencies so that there are enough personnel to respond to a fire if it breaks out in a midrise building.

Comfort and confidence

Even though Bend Fire hasn’t had to respond to any major emergencies in one of the 67 midrise buildings throughout the city, Riley said he sleeps easily knowing the dedication firefighters have for keeping their communities safe.

“The men and women that work in Bend Fire & Rescue are exceptional. It’s truly the thing that makes me rest easy at night knowing that if I had an emergency in my house, or if one of my loved ones needed emergency medical care, they’re going to get one of these professionals and I’m OK with that,” Riley said.

He also said these updates to procedure, equipment and staffing wouldn’t be possible without the support the community shows Bend Fire in return.

“I have to take every opportunity to say out loud that the reason we can do what we do is because of the community’s support. We just passed that levy in May of 2023,” Riley said. “(Because of that) we were able to staff the engine at Station 6, secure the long-term funding for the ladder truck and replace equipment.”