Year after Juniper Ridge Fire hit northern Bend, auto wrecker that lost 100s of cars still recovering

Hundreds of residents fled; hundreds of cars in wrecking yard were lost

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ)-- Sunday will mark a year since the Juniper Ridge Fire broke out on the north end of Bend, forcing hundreds of evacuated residents to flee and nearly destroying B&R Auto Wrecking, leaving behind a vast scene of burned-out, melted cars.

"After the fire went through, we inventoried the entire yard and kept what we could, and got rid of what we couldn't keep. I think we were left down to about 70-75 cars after it was all done, out of probably 700 or 800 usable cars," Manager Matt Spregue said.

The fast-spreading fire put up a large, black smoke plume from the auto wrecking yard, spreading toward nearby homes until the air and ground attack stopped it at nearly 40 acres.

"It burned through the majority of our vehicle inventory that was stored outside. Luckily the main office building wasn't touched," said Matt Spregue, manager of B&R Auto Wrecking.

While no homes were lost in the area, two outbuildings on the property were destroyed.

Spregue praised the Bend Fire & Rescue and other crews who were able to stop the fire from spreading further into the business.
 
"They did a phenomenal job of helping protect us the best that they could," Spregue said.

Spregue described the damages to the fire.

"The fire got so hot that it melted the aluminum, so there was runs of aluminum all over the yard, sitting underneath cars," he said.

Investigators say the fire was sparked by the hot engine exhaust of a motor home that came in contact with grass and brush.

The man who owned the motor home was camping along the Deschutes County-owned land in the area when the fire began.