Bend man arrested on reckless burning, criminal mischief charges in city sewer pump station fire

39-year-old jailed on probation violation warrant

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A 39-year-old Bend resident has been arrested on criminal mischief and reckless burning charges in connection with a fire caused by a space heater that damaged a city sewer pump station and could have caused an outage or Deschutes River discharge if crews had not put it out in time.

Police and Bend Fire and Rescue responded around 6:40 a.m. Sunday to the fire at the Westside Lift Station on Northwest Portland Avenue, which investigators determined was apparently caused by a propane space heater being used by someone sleeping at the rear of the building that caught combustibles on fire. Fire officials said the facility’s concrete walls and fire crews’ efforts limited the damage.

Since it was a suspicious fire, officers seized several items of evidence during the initial investigation, police Lt. Clint Burleigh said Wednesday.

Officers also were given descriptions of a suspect last seen by witnesses near the pump house just prior to the fire, Burleigh said.

Police contacted the eventual suspect on an unrelated matter shortly before 10 a.m. Wednesday at Northeast Second Street and Hawthorne Avenue. The lieutenant said officers determined he matched the description of the suspect, and also found he had an active arrest warrant for probation violation.

Officers determined they had probable cause to arrest the man. He was taken to the Deschutes County Jail, where he was lodged on the probation violation and new charges of second-degree criminal mischief and reckless burning.