Bend Fire & Rescue responded to a report of an RV on fire east of Hwy 97 at Wiley Cir (approximately MP133), in Juniper Ridge, at 230 Wednesday afternoon. DCSO arrived first and reported a fully involved camper and vehicle and a fire starting to spread into the grass. Fire crews arrived within 8 minutes and were able to stop the RV fire quickly. Neighboring campers were able to use shovels to stop the initial spread of the grass fires until more fire resources arrived. No injuries were reported but one dog was lost in the fire. The RV and adjacent car were a total loss, and the brush fire was kept to less than ¼ acre, even with the upper 80s temperatures and 6-13 mph winds.
The fire cause is still under investigation by Bend Fire and DCSO. The fire crews will continue to check the fire over the coming days due to the predicted hot and windy weather. This is to ensure that the heat of the next day doesn’t allow any hot spots to reignite the fire. Bend Fire was assisted by a water tender from Cloverdale Fire (inaccurately identified on scene as Redmond Fire when doing interviews) and an engine from the US Forest Service. Cloverdale was able to provide water for the fire fighters, refilling at least once during the incident. The USFS safely cut down large juniper trees that were burning and if left standing would have posed a threat of a rekindled fire.
Fire prevention work on the city and county lands in the Juniper Ridge area contributed to the lack of spread of this fire. Over the winter contractors and county employees worked on limbing up all trees and thinning brush throughout the county owned portion of Juniper Ridge. By removing the branches and preventing the fire from spreading from the grass to the trees, the brush fire portion was kept small and stopped with shovels. The only trees that did burn were adjacent to the RV and ignited due to their proximity to the main fire, not from embers starting at their base. The city has completed similar work as well as creating a large clear space around the perimeter of their properties.
