Abandoned cooking fire at homeless camp on vacant private lot sparked Mile Marker 132 Fire, Bend investigators say

(Update: Adding video, details and comments from Bend Fire, Mayor Kebler)

Resident 'not known, not located,' officials say; last evacuation levels dropped

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – An abandoned cooking fire at a homeless camp on a privately owned 13-acre lot east of Highway 97 caused the 78-acre Mile Marker 132 Fire last Friday that threatened hundreds of homes on Bend’s north end, prompted evacuations and knocked out power before a major air and ground attack stopped its spread.

"The resident of the camp is not known and was not located," according to a Bend Fire & Rescue news release issued Wednesday morning, revealing new details about the fire and its cause.

According to the agency, their first person to reach the area was a fire investigator.

Fire Chief Todd Riley said, "Our fire investigator, being the first one there, was actually advantageous because she got to see the fire when it was small at its origin and was able to determine where it started."

The investigator determined  a fire used for cooking had been abandoned at a homeless camp on a privately owned 13-acre lot, at 64010 North highway 97...

Riley described what evidence was left behind. 

"There was flat rocks that were used as the base. There was a grate on top. There was some wood debris that they were using as fuel for the cooking. That's obviously where it spread to the vegetation and then started the fire."

The fire burned 78 acres and forced evacuations of two mobile home parks and nearby neighborhoods  before it could be contained by local firefighters from several agencies, along with the Forest Service, BLM and the Oregon Department of Forestry.

Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler said the city is taking preventative measures during fire season. 

"We've got specific areas like Juniper Ridge where we've been working on management plans with the county for quite some time," she said. "We have staff that are out there frequently, and we're out there before this fire happened and talking about the county burn ban."

Bend Fire said law enforcement is working on contacting the person who had the camp on the property. 

Authorities also tried to contact the property owner but it belongs in a trust.

On social media, many area residents expressed frustration , one writing, "Let this be a wake up call for the city and county, another warning, "Something catastrophic could happen with the number of homeless camps."

Kebler said, "We will be discussing the subject, because city-owned land and county-owned land next to each other where a lot of these encampments are. And so we need to have an agreement with the plan on what to do up there."

Later Wednesday, the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office dropped the last evacuation levels in areas that were threatened by the fire.

Deschutes County property tax records indicate the 13-acre property, with a real market value of nearly $500,000 and an assessed value of about $111,000, is owned by the Anna Morrison Spencer 1997 Trust in Las Vegas.

Here's the full news release from Bend Fire:

At 2:28 pm on Friday, August 2 2024, Deschutes County 911 Dispatch began receiving calls reporting smoke coming from a property near Milepost 132 on the east side of Highway 97. First responding units from Bend Fire & Rescue noted a visible column of smoke and added additional resources due to the risk of extreme fire behavior during a prolonged period of hot and dry weather. 

The fire ultimately charred 78 acres before it could be contained, with resources from throughout Deschutes County and Jefferson County assisting in suppression efforts.  In addition, air and ground resources from US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Oregon Department of Forestry also were instrumental in stopping the progress of the fire. 

Two structural task forces from Lincoln County and Polk County that had been pre-positioned in the Redmond area by Office of State Fire Marshal were also dispatched to assist.  Bend Police, Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police, and Oregon Department of Transportation were also instrumental in this incident.

The origin of the fire was found to be on a vacant, privately owned 13-acre lot addressed as 64010 N. Hwy 97.  There are no structures on the property, other than wood and wire fencing.  Upon investigation, the cause of the fire was found to be a cooking fire at a camp on the property.  The resident of the camp is not known and was not located. 

Bend Fire & Rescue would like to remind the community that our fire danger is currently in the extreme category.  While natural causes of wildfire such as lightning cannot be prevented, human-caused wildfires can.  According to the National Interagency Fire Center, human caused wildfires comprise 87 percent of all wildfires nationally.  Escaped debris burns and equipment use are the two leading causes of human-caused wildfires across Oregon. 

Help protect your home and property from the threat of wildfire by taking simple actions to create defensible space around your home.  More information on the Own Your Zone program in Bend can be found at https://www.bendoregon.gov/government/departments/fire-rescue/emergency-preparedness/own-your-zone.  Bend Fire & Rescue offers free consultations on how you can help make your property better prepared against the threat of wildfire.