Investigators dig in to find cause of Bend Sonic fire

A team of investigators spent much of Thursday piecing through the remains of the Sonic Drive-in on the south end of Bend, looking for the point of origin and cause of the fire that destroyed the restaurant nearly a month ago.

The fast-food restaurant went up in flames on March 24. Officials said it was a complete loss, with around $800,000 in total losses.

For the first time since the fire, Bend police and fire officials, investigators and insurance representatives were gathering evidence to try and figure out what happened.

“They’ve been in there all day hunting and picking through there, trying to find the origin of the fire,” said Todd Lane, general manager for Central Oregon Disaster Restoration.