Roof, attic fire heavily damages La Pine home; 2 cats believed to have perished
Cause under investigation; crews on medical transports prompt mutual-aid call to other departments
La PINE, Ore. (KTVZ) – A roof and attic fire heavily damaged a La Pine home Sunday afternoon, and while the people inside escaped unhurt, it’s believed two cats perished, a fire official said.
The La Pine Rural Fire Protection District responded around 2 p.m. to the reported structure fire in the 15800 block of Bristlecone Lane, fire Captain Ty Miller said.
At the time of the alarm, both of La Pine’s on-duty crews were transporting patients to St. Charles Bend, Miller said.
“This required the district to rely heavily on neighboring departments for assistance until crews could get back to the fire district from Bend,” the captain said in a news release, adding, “There was extended travel time for the first attack apparatus from LPFD’s northern station and mutual-aid apparatus coming from Sunriver and Bend.”
“This allowed the fire to grow into a full-scale attic fire along the entirety of the roof,” Miller said. “Upon arrival, large flames were reported to be coming from the roof and the fire was beginning to run the length of the attic.”
Before crews arrived on scene, La Pine incident commanders deemed it too dangerous for entry, due to the potential roof collapse, Miller said, so the fire was fought defensively from outside the home.
Fortunately, he said, all occupants evacuated the home safely, and no injuries were reported to occupants or firefighters, although it’s believed two cats unfortunately perished in the fire.
The efforts of firefighters, as well as neighbors having plenty of defensible space on their properties kept the blaze from extending into trees and nearby brush, Miller said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, he added.
A total of 17 fire personnel were on scene for about four hours. During that time, Miller said, the La Pine district had three medical emergency alarms that were answered by Crescent and Bend fire crews.
“La Pine Fire District representatives would like to remind all citizens to have properly installed and working fire alarms,” Miller wrote.
