La Pine family escapes fire in manufactured home

A La Pine family and their pets fled their 40-year-old manufactured home unharmed on Saturday morning after a fire traced to recent electrical issues broke out in their dining room wall, officials said Sunday.

The La Pine Rural Fire District responded shortly before 10 a.m. to the reported possible structure fire with smoke in the 5200 block of Pine Forest Drive, Captain Fred Franklin said.

Crews arrived to find all of the home’s occupants outside, including three adults, a young child, five dogs and two cats, Franklin said.

The occupants said one of the walls in the dining room of their 30-by-50-foot double-wide manufactured home felt hot and they noticed smoke coming from the wall.

Firefighters spotted glowing and light smoke coming from an exterior wall and made entry, finding an area about 1-by-2 feet burning near the floor and up the interior wall, Franklin said.

Crews extinguished that fire and used a power saw, hand tools and hose line to put out more fire, which had extended throughout the wall and sub-floor.

The homeowners said they had been experiencing general electrical problems for several months, including new appliances that quickly failed and frequently having to replace failed electrical outlets.

They also said that Friday evening, all of the lights in the house had flickered, then surged extremely bright before dimming back to normal. They said they had planned to call an electrician on Saturday, but the fire broke out before they could do so, Franklin said.

An investigation determined the fire originated inside the wall and was believed to be caused by faulty or overloaded electrical wiring.

Firefighters contacted the American Red Cross to assist the displaced family.

The fire district official recommended addressing all electrical problems immediately, by calling a licensed electrician. If a house fire breaks out, Franklin said residents should immediately evacuate and close all exterior doors to limit the fire’s growth.