Fire starts in garage, tears through SE Bend home

A southeast Bend homeowner awoke to an explosion in the garage late Sunday afternoon, found a motorcycle parked in the garage on fire and escaped with two pets, but the resulting blaze severely damaged the home and destroyed several vehicles, officials said. Estimated losses tallied $350,000.

Bend Fire and Rescue responded around 4:40 p.m. to the reported structure fire at 160 Southeast Piper Drive, said Fire Inspector Steve Stenkamp. Arriving crews found heavy fire in the garage and vehicles parked nearby.

The homeowner, Jeff Hansen, told authorities he awoke to the explosion found a motorcycle in the garage ablaze and quickly fled with his pets as he called 911.

Stenkamp said rapid fire spread destroyed the garage and severely damaged the rest of the home. Five motorcycles in the garage, a camper and three vehicles were destroyed by the blaze, the cause of which was under investigation.

Losses were estimated at $260,000 for the structure, $50,000 for the vehicles and $40,000 worth of contents. The owner had insurance, Stenkamp said.

The fire put up a black smoke plume seen over a wide area, which Stenkamp said brought a lot of attention. In fact, he said initial fire operations were hampered by traffic from onlookers.

Downed power lines across the fire scene also challenged firefighters, which Stenkamp said is a frequent occurrence at fire scenes..