DRW neighbors help save family’s home from fire

Alert neighbors who saw flames and heard smoke alarms sounding helped save a Deschutes River Woods family’s home Tuesday night, officials said.

Bend firefighters responded shortly after 9 p.m. to the neighbors’ call to 911 of a fire at a home in the 59800 block of Navajo Road, Battalion Chief Jeff Blake said.

Crews arrived to find a small amount of smoke coming from the two-story home. The neighbors reportedly checked to see if anyone was home and had let a dog out, according to scanner reports.

Blake said the firefighters found the smoke’s source was combustible material that had caught fire on the stove. They quickly put out the fire and cleared the home of smoke.

The residents were not home at the time and were unsure how or why the stove got turned on, he added.

Losses were limited to $5,000 to the building and $250 worth of contents. The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office assisted with the investigation and traffic control, Blake said.

Blake said the fire department wants to remind homeowners to keep all combustible material away from any heat source, especially a cooking stove.

“The quick action of the neighbors helped save this family’s house,” he said.