Tumalo fire destroys shop, damages bus barn at Three Sisters Adventist Christian School

TUMALO, Ore. (KTVZ) – A shop was destroyed and a connected bus barn damaged by a fire that broke out Friday morning at the Three Sisters Adventist Christian School on Tumalo Road, Bend fire officials said.

The fire was reported shortly before 9 a.m. and initially was reported as a barn fire. But Deputy Fire Marshal Cindy Kettering said it was a workshop and storage building for tools and maintenance equipment, attached to a larger building that served as a bus barn behind the school.

“Normally, a sprinter van is parked in there, but they went on a field trip yesterday and fortunately the van was not in there,” Kettering said.

Onlookers reported hearing several large explosions before crews could put out the fire.

"We had a full assignment for a commercial structure fire headed this way," Kettering said on the scene. "Crews were able to get a quick knockdown of the fire and get ahead of the spread of the fire, and now we will be working to complete extinguishment and determine the origin of the fire."

The fire destroyed the shop building, while the bus barn was damaged but still mostly intact, she said.

No injuries were reported.

A fire official later said the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The Cloverdale and Redmond fire departments provided mutual aid during the blaze.