SUV burns in downtown Bend parking garage

An SUV burned in the city of Bend’s downtown parking garage Monday morning, but sprinklers helped keep the fire from spreading, officials said.

Firefighters were called around 9:40 a.m. to the fire on the first floor of the Centennial Parking Plaza at 750 NW Lava Road, Bend Fire Battalion Chief Dave Howe said.

Within minutes came word that a small SUV was fully ablaze and entrances to the parking structure were closed as smoke billowed out of the parking garage. The fire was extinguished before 10 a.m., according to reports from the scene.

No injuries were reported and no other cars were damaged, Howe said. He noted that the sprinklers that activated are designed to keep a fire from spreading to other cars, not necessarily to douse the blaze.