Bend homeowner and two dogs escape early morning house fire

8/15/2024

Bend, OR. – Official Release: Bend Fire & Rescue crews were dispatched to 1134 NE Penn Ave at approx 1:00am this morning. A woman and her two dogs were awoken by screaming smoke alarms in the home. She was the only resident home at the time of the incident. She awoke, heard the alarms and noticed smoke in the home, called 911 and grabbed her dogs. Crews were on scene in a matter of minutes and found the lower portion of the home, a walk-in basement, fully involved with flames coming out of the sliding glass door.

The fire was knocked down in 15 minutes and crews were able to contain the fire to the basement only, with no extension into the main living quarters of the home. Unfortunately, the basement and all contents are a complete loss due to fire, smoke and water damage. Upon investigation, the woman stated she went to bed around 11:30pm and mistakenly left an unattended candle burning in the basement area. The candle was not sitting on a non-combustible plate or surface and was directly in contact with the wooden table. 

This incident could have been much worse, had the homeowners not had working smoke alarms. With the main living and sleeping quarters above the basement, she was sleeping directly above the fully involved basement. She is extremely lucky that she had smoke alarms in both the basement and the main area of the home. This was a home smoke alarm save. We encourage everyone to stop and check that their smoke alarms are working and installed correctly.

Bend Fire & Rescue has a free smoke alarm program and will come to your home to assess your alarms. Please call 541-322-6300 or go on our website for more information. The estimated building loss is $75,000 and the estimated contents loss is estimated at $20,000.