On Friday, April 19, at 4:11 p.m. Jefferson Fire District was dispatched to 15042 Jefferson-Highway 99E, Jefferson, Oregon. This was a three-alarm fire. Upon arrival the Incident Commander Louis Gisler reported there was a single-story house showing brown smoke. The front window busted, and black smoke poured out of the window causing the fire to ramp up due to the ventilation from the widows. The fire was contained to the property however an outbuilding did start to catch on fire along with the fence. The firefighters were able to stop the fire on the outbuilding and fence. The house is at least 70 percent destroyed. The owner and her dog were outside and safe.
The owner was frying fish on the stove when she left the stove unattended. She heard the smoke detector and quickly went to the kitchen where she saw the kitchen on fire. She and her dog immediately ran out of the house and called 911.
There were 12 firefighters from Jefferson along with Albany, Aumsville, Scio, Stayton, Sublimity and Turner who responded to the fire. The fire was deemed under control at 5:26 p.m. The firefighters continued to mop up for approximately and hour and half. There were no injuries. The cause of the fire is due to the stove being left unattended where the grease had splattered and caused the fire. Jefferson Fire District would like to remind you please do not leave a stove unattended and check on a regular basis to make sure you have working smoke detectors. Thank you to all those who responded to assist with this call.