Fire damages Redmond wood-carving business

A Redmond woodcarver’s shop briefly was ablaze Saturday afternoon after a wood stove caught fire in the store. The flames led to an estimated $25,000 in damages, but fortunately no injuries were reported — and not a single lost carving.

Vance Fortenberry is the owner and artist behind the carvings at the Whittle Shop, located at 3791 N. Highway 97, with many pieces priced at thousands of dollars. Despite some frustrations over the cleanup ahead, he expressed his gratitude for the efforts of firefighters.

“The firefighters did a great job of making sure it was out,” Fortenberry said. “If I were in town doing an errand, it could have been a lot worse.”

According to Fortenberry, the fire started in his wood stove in the attic around noon on Saturday. Fire crews were called out minutes later, said Redmond Fire Marshal Traci Cooper.

“I thought it was a downdraft from the stove, but the next thing I knew it accumulated,” Fortenberry said.

Fortenberry said it was only the second fire he’d dealt with in his 21 years operating the Whittle Shop.

He has some experience as a firefighter, and had knocked out the origin point of the fire before calling fire authorities.

Bend, Crook County and Sisters firefighters assisted in putting out the fire, as well as removing all wood carvings from the room. ODOT and Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies also helped at the scene, Cooper said.

Now, a cleanup and repair is in order for the next week, but Fortenberry said it won’t close the store down during the process.

“I can only be positive about it, but I don’t have to be excited about it,” he said with a laugh.

Cooper said the cause of the fire was under investigation, with only minor damage to a few artworks.