Fire starts near deck, destroys home north of Bend

(Update: Adding that home was total loss; neighbor who rescued dog comments)

A fire that began on or near a back deck spread to and destroyed a home north of Bend Monday morning, fire officials said, adding that the likely cause was smoker’s carelessness at a weekend wedding.

Bend Fire Department crews responded just before 10 a.m. to the reported fire in a single-story home in the 20700 block of Mira Circle, Deputy Fire Marshal Susie Maniscalco said.

The arrived to find the backyard deck ablaze and flames spreading into the home, whose owners were not home at the time, Maniscalco said.

A dog they owned was in the home and was rescued by a neighbor, she added.

“I ran into the house to see if anyone was in there,” neighbor Daniel Sowerby recalled later. “The place was just full of smoke. Nobody answered, I check the bedrooms, nobody answered and then I ran back out.

“Then I remembered that Janine had a dog in there, so I went back in, and she was cowering in the back room on the south end,” he said. “So I dragged her out, let her go at the front door.”

The fire was “most likely” caused by smoker’s carelessness, Maniscalco said, as the owners held a wedding over the weekend and several guests had been smoking outside.

While part of the structure was still standing, officials said the $400,000 home was a total loss because the fire extended into the attic and caused more damage to the structure. There were also $150,000 in contents and $100,000 worth were lost. The American Red Cross was called in to assist the homeowners with immediate basic needs.

A total of 20 firefighters were called, she said, and the Cloverdale Fire Department provided mutual aid.