Fire destroys animal shelter, burns shop south of Madras

A fire early Sunday morning destroyed a small, unoccupied animal shelter and damaged an adjoining shop south of Madras, but no people or animals were injured, Jefferson County Fire District officials said.

Firefighters were called around 1:30 a.m. to a property in the 4000 block of Southwest Bear Drive, officials said.

Crews arrived to find a roughly 4-by-6-foot animal shelter on fire and flames spreading to the adjoining 16-by-32-foot shop, extending to the interior roof area.

The fire crews quickly extinguished the flames, but the animal shelter was a total loss and the fire damaged about 12 feet of siding and damaged the roof in part of the shop’s interior.

Fire Chief Brian Huff said the owners were away and there were no animals found on the property.

More than a dozen volunteer and staff firefighters were on scene for about an hour to put out the fire and investigate. The cause of the fire was under investigation.

Mutual-aid assistance was provided by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Madras Police Department and Jefferson County EMS.