Bend, La Pine firefighters tackle string of blazes

Bend firefighters tackled a pair of blazes Tuesday afternoon, one at a detached shop east of town that was caught fast thanks to a neighbor. The second was behind a downtown restaurant, where investigators said a worker tried to melt snow out of the gutters with a blowtorch and lit a wall on fire.

Crews responded around 2:20 p.m. to a structure fire in the 22000 block of Erickson Road, said Deputy Fire Marshal Dan Derlacki.

A neighbor noticed smoke coming from the shop and called 911, as homeowners were not at home at the time, Derlacki said.

With the quick notification, fire crews were able to keep the fire from spreading and it was held inside the shop’s wall, only slightly damaging its contents. Derlacki estimated the losses at $5,000 to the structure and $1,000 to the contents.

Derlacki said the fire apparently was caused by an electrical failure in the wiring for the 20-year-old barn. The fire caused the structural wood to catch fire

Shortly before 4 p.m., firefighters were called to Soba Noodle on Bond Street, where Derlacki said a worker trying to melt snow out of the gutters behind the business with a blowtorch accidentally lit the wall on fire.

The worker was able to use an extinguisher to slow the spread of the fire, but crews had to cut through sections of the wall and soffit to get it completely out.

Derlacki warned against using torches to melt ice in gutters, as the wood backing can be ignited by the flame. Instead, he said, use waterproof heat tape designed for gutters, ice melter or chisel out the ice.

Central Oregon fire crews also were busy Monday morning, as Bend firefighters responded to a reported fire around 7:30 a.m. at Roszak’s Fish House on Northeast Third Street.

Battalion Chief Dave Howe said they arrived to find smoke in the kitchen and a fire in the vent system.

An employee used a dry chemical extinguisher to put out a small fire on the stove, but heat from the blaze ignited grease in the vent system. No extension of the fire was found, but damages were estimated at $10,000 to the building.

Around 8:44 a.m. Monday, La Pine Rural Fire Protection District crews responded to a structure fire in the 52000 block of Plainview Drive.

Fire Chief Mike Supkis said temperatures were at about zero degrees when crews arrived to find heavy smoke coming from the attic of a 40-by-50-foot shop building with an attached property.

The owner had been in the shop earlier in the morning and was using a woodstove to keep the work area warm. The apartment resident alerted the owner to smoke coming from the attic.

Firefighters were able to make a quick stop of the fire within 20 minutes, limiting damage to the attic area in one part of the shop. A separation wall helped confine the fire to one portion of the building, Supkis said.

The fire was found to have been caused by wood pyrolysis (decomposition that causes elevated temperatures) around the woodstove chimney-ceiling interface.