Burning food in pan on stove brings firefighters to NE Bend apartment

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Smoke alarms brought a neighbor, then firefighters to a northeast Bend apartment Friday morning, where they awakened a sleeping occupant who then removed a pan of burning food from the stove – prompting a reminder of the danger cooking fires pose.

Bend Fire & Rescue was dispatched shortly before 8 a.m. to a report of smoke alarms sounding from an apartment at the Crest Butte Apartments in the 1600 block of Northeast Purcell Boulevard, Deputy Fire Marshal Cindy Kettering said. A neighbor had called to say no one answered the door at the apartment where the alarms were sounding.

Crews arrived and saw smoke through the window, upgrading it to a structure fire call, Kettering said. They were then able to awaken the resident, who was sleeping on the couch, and he removed the pan from the stove and opened the door.

The fire was confined to the pan on the stove, Kettering said. Fire crews helped clear smoke from the apartment, and the resident was not displaced.

Cooking is the No. 1 cause of home fires and home injuries, Kettering said.

"Bend Fire & Rescue would like to remind the community to never leave anything on the stove unattended, keep anything that can burn away from the cook top, and never cook if you're sleepy or under the influence of alcohol or medications that could make you drowsy," she said in a news release.

For more home fire safety tips, visit Bend Fire's website at https://www.bendoregon.gov/government/departments/fire-rescue/education-safety-tips.