SE Bend residents, pets escape house fire

A southeast Bend resident awakened early Sunday to find their home — without working smoke alarms — full of smoke. That allowed the two adults and several animals to escape the blaze, which authorities traced to a heat lamp for two baby chicks.

Firefighters were called out at 2:20 a.m. to the reported house fire in the 61500 block of Alstrup Road, Bend Deputy Fire Marshal Cindy Kettering said.

The two adult occupants and their dog, snake and chicks had evacuated the home before fire crews arrived, she said.

The fire was contained to the rear of the older, 1,020-square-foot home and was quickly knocked down and extinguished. But Kettering said there was smoke and heat damage throughout the home. Losses were estimated at $50,000 to the structure and $15,000 worth of contents

The circuit breaker switch for the home’s older smoke alarms had been turned off, the fire official said, adding that she did not know why.

An investigation found the fire was caused by the failure of a support for a heat lamp keeping the chicks warm, Kettering said. A metal rod holding the lamp was duct-taped to a table, but the tape couldn’t support the weight of the heavy-duty heat lamp and metal rod. An occupant rescued the baby chicks, she added.

“This incident could have had a far worse outcome,” Kettering said in a news release. “Working smoke alarms reduce the risk of dying in a fire by half.”

If you don’t have working smoke alarms and cannot afford them, contact the fire agency in your area, she said. Many fire departments and the American Red Cross offer smoke alarms at no cost.

“Working smoke alarms save lives!” Kettering concluded.