Fire destroys ranch home E. of Prineville

A large two-story home at a ranch east of Prineville – outside any fire protection district — was destroyed by a fire Friday evening that was believed started by a propane barbecue left on for nearly a day, Crook County sheriff’s deputies said Saturday.

Deputies responded at 5:18 p.m. to the reported house fire at 1216 SE Keystone Ranch Road, about 14 miles east of Prineville said sheriff’s Sgt. Jim Chapman.

The deputies arrived to find the home with billowing black smoke coming out of the walls and roof at the back of the home, Chapman said.

A housekeeper on scene told deputies the fire began after she discovered the propane barbecue had been left on in the patio area, he said. It’s believed the barbecue may have been going for nearly 24 hours before the fire was reported, Chapman added.

The housekeeper told deputies the air around the house smelled of smoke and burning electrical wire, he said.

The homeowners were out of town at the time of the fire, and Crook County Fire and Rescue told deputies the home was outside the fire district and there would be no response by them. Chapman said.

Friends went to the home in an attempt to help put out the blaze, he said, but it was fully engulfed after about a half-hour.

The two-story stick-built home sat on the edge of a pasture at the Keystone Ranch, about a mile off Hwy. 26E near milepost 31, Chapman said.

Crook County property tax records indicated the three-bedroom, three-bath home was about 3,500 square feet in size and was built in 2008.