Fire heavily damages SW Redmond home

A fire tore through the second floor of a southwest Redmond home late Monday afternoon as police helped three occupants escape with their dog and a cat, officials said.

Medics took the three people to the hospital for evaluation while firefighters put out the blaze and rescued a rabbit, but several ferrets and a rat that were upstairs perished and a cat remains missing.

Crews were called shortly after 4 p.m. to the fire at a two-story home in the 2100 block of Southwest 37 th Street, Fire Marshal Traci Cooper said. They arrived to find heavy fire and smoke billowing from a second-floor window at the rear of the home.

The occupants who got out of the house with the dog and cat reported the other animals were still inside.

Firefighters staged an exterior attack on the fire, through the window, then went inside to work on containing the fire to the home’s second floor, Cooper said. They also looked for any extension of the fire and performed salvage operations on the first floor as well. Crews wrapped up their work around 6:40 p.m.

Firefighters were able to find and rescue a rabbit from a downstairs bathroom, Cooper said, but the ferrets and rat were on the second floor and died of smoke inhalation. The location of the second cat was unknown.

Losses to the building and contents were estimated at $100,000. The cause of the fire was under investigation.

A total of 15 firefighters were called to the scene. Mutual aid assistance was provided by Redmond police, the Central Oregon Police Chaplaincy, Cloverdale and Crooked River Ranch fire departments and the American Red Cross.