credit bend fire

Bend Fire & Recuse was dispatched to a reported brush fire along the Deschutes River, just down stream of the 1^st Street Rapids. Witnesses saw smoke and flames at the bottom of the cliff behind the homes on NW Rivermist Dr. BPD officers arrived first and assisted locating the best access to the fire. The fire was quicky stopped and kept to an area of 30x50ft of brush on the flat areas near the river, luckily not spreading up the hill at all. 

USFS and ODF crews arrived to assist on the fire. Crews remained on scene for an hour ensuring the fire was completely extinguished. An old fallen tree was cut up to ensure it wasn’t smoldering before crews left. The fire is considered human caused but no specific cause was found. There were no signs of camping or encampments in the area. The trail through the fire area is heavily used by hikers and swimmers. A carelessly disposed of cigarette or other hot ashes can’t be ruled out as a cause. 

This fire highlighted a reminder to ensure you have good defensible space around your home, even if you live in the center of town. Piles of dry yard debris, thick brush and wood piles near decks were noted around homes near this fire. If an ember had come up the hill from this fire it could have easily ignited the dry vegetation and spread the fire to homes. More information about how to create that defensible space can be found at www.bendoregon.gov/own-your-zone.

credit bend fire

Bend Fire & Recuse was dispatched to a reported brush fire along the Deschutes River, just down stream of the 1^st Street Rapids. Witnesses saw smoke and flames at the bottom of the cliff behind the homes on NW Rivermist Dr. BPD officers arrived first and assisted locating the best access to the fire. The fire was quicky stopped and kept to an area of 30x50ft of brush on the flat areas near the river, luckily not spreading up the hill at all. 

USFS and ODF crews arrived to assist on the fire. Crews remained on scene for an hour ensuring the fire was completely extinguished. An old fallen tree was cut up to ensure it wasn’t smoldering before crews left. The fire is considered human caused but no specific cause was found. There were no signs of camping or encampments in the area. The trail through the fire area is heavily used by hikers and swimmers. A carelessly disposed of cigarette or other hot ashes can’t be ruled out as a cause. 

This fire highlighted a reminder to ensure you have good defensible space around your home, even if you live in the center of town. Piles of dry yard debris, thick brush and wood piles near decks were noted around homes near this fire. If an ember had come up the hill from this fire it could have easily ignited the dry vegetation and spread the fire to homes. More information about how to create that defensible space can be found at www.bendoregon.gov/own-your-zone.

Skyline_Ranch_Rd_fire_photo_7-22-24.jpeg

Bend Fire Department responded to a fire on Skyline Ranch Rd just west of Awbrey Glen Golf Course this afternoon just before 4pm. A neighbor was returning home and spotted a tree smoldering in the middle of a dry grass field and called 911. As the first arriving crew arrived the fire started to spread into the grass and be carried by the wind. Within minutes the fire had grown to ¼ acre and started spreading fast. The first arriving fire engines were assisted by a water tender from Shevlin Sand and Gravel to stop the fire but not before reaching nearly an acre in size. Strong, variable winds played a factor in the speed of growth of this fire. 

Crews were able to quickly stop the grass fire before it reached any trees or the small barn at the south end of the field. The tree was struck by lightning the nigh before and had been smoldering since then. The tree was not smoking earlier in the day but as the weather warmed up and the winds increased the fire started to spread. 

An earlier smoldering fire was extinguished around 230pm in a large open lot east of Caldera High School. The fire was noted by passerby's and called in. The smoldering area was extinguished before it could spread to any brush and trees near by, keeping it to less than 100 sq. feet, cause unknown. 

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