Fire that caused $150,000 damage to SW Bend home traced to improperly installed chimney pipe

(Update: Cause found to be chimney pipe installed too close to wood framing)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – The cause of a chimney fire that caused about $150,000 damage to a southwest Bend home Friday evening was traced to a chimney pipe installed without required clearances when the home was built, officials said Sunday.

Bend Fire & Rescue was dispatched around 7:20 p.m. Friday to the reported fire in the 19000 block of Kemple Drive, off Century Drive, Battalion Chief Scott Wyman. Neighbors alerted the occupants, then called 911. Three engine crews, a ladder truck, a command staff and ambulance responded.

The first crews arrived to find a two-story house with the chimney chase and adjacent tree burning.

The fire had minor extension into the attic and interior spaces before crews quickly extinguished it and conducted overhaul to protect the contents.

Damages were estimated at $100,000 to the structure and $50,000 in contents.

In releasing the investigation's conclusion Sunday, Deputy Fire Marshal Cindy Kettering said, "When a chimney pipe or stove pipe is installed too close to structural members, the wood framing is repeatedly heated and begins to degrade in a process called pyrolysis.  Over time, the wood can degrade to the point it readily ignites.  This process can take years or even decades."  

In the initial news release, Wyman stated, “Bend Fire and Rescue reminds everyone to have your wood-burning chimneys cleaned and inspected annually.”