Early-morning fire destroys manufactured home in Deschutes River Woods; cause undetermined
Neighbor called in fire, woke next-door neighbor; no one was home; damage too extensive to find cause
(Update: Adding video, comments from Lawler, Derlacki)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A fire destroyed an unoccupied manufactured home on the south end of Deschutes River Woods early Sunday morning, but Bend Fire & Rescue crews kept it from spreading to nearby homes after a neighbor initially tackled the blaze from their side of the fence.
A neighbor across the street called Deschutes County 911 dispatchers just after 4 a.m. to report a house was on fire on Faugarwee Circle, off River Woods Drive, Deputy Fire Marshal Dan Derlacki said.
Bend Fire crews found the house fully involved upon arrival but quickly stopped the blaze, containing it to the house. Derlacki said it was determined no one was home at the time of the fire.
The 1970s manufactured home was a complete loss, as well as its contents, he said. Damages were estimated at $25,000.
Investigators were unable to determine the cause of the fire, due to the extent of damage.
“The fire does appear to be accidental,” Derlacki said, “but the direct cause can’t be pinpointed.”
He added, "Unfortunately, it is a complete loss for the family" who owns the house, who live in Bend and were contacted in town. "They are working with their insurance company to start the process of determining about rebuilding and at least getting the site cleaned up."
Next-door neighbor David Lawler said they were awakened by the neighbor across the street who told them the house next door was on fire.
Lawler said, "It was scary -- as soon as we walked outside, saw the fire, how close it was. We thought the trees were going to catch on fire right now. It looked like it was, you know, coming over the fence right now and it was going to get our house."
“It was blowing hard flames at the fence line,” Lawler told us. “We evacuated.”
“My son, Brian Lawler, started fighting the fire from our side of the fence, but the fire department was here in a very short time, like three minutes,” he said. “The fire department did a good job of keeping the pine trees from catching fire.”
