A Bend family escaped safely after their home caught fire just after the noon hour today.  Firefighters are still on the scene, but the fire is out.  The home is located on Vogt Road off of Boyd Acres Road between Empire and Cooley in northeast Bend.  Neighbor Mindy Paul saw the flames:  “I just looked out my bedroom window and saw play structure they just built this weekend up in flames.  So I called 911.  I told them it was on fire and the flames we're starting up the side of their house.” 

Fire Battalion Chief Bill Boos says lots of neighbors called 911.  “It sounds like 911 was buried.  A lot of neighbors called.  It's a pretty populated area.  You could see the smoke from a long ways away.”  About a quarter of the home was damaged in the fire, so the home is uninhabitable right now.   There’s no damage estimate yet or possible cause.