BEND, OR -- A family and pets escaped safely after waking to smoke in the home and no electricity, early Tuesday morning. They called 911 when they discovered fire in the garage. Bend Fire & Rescue responded to Tuscarora Lane, in Deschutes River Woods, just after 1 a.m. and stopped the flames from spreading to the rest of the house. 

Investigators determined the fire started when oily rags spontaneously combusted. The rags were from a commercial kitchen and were laundered at the house. After drying, they were piled into a laundry basket. According to Bend Fire, "Spontaneous combustion of oily rags occurs when rag or cloth is slowly heated to its ignition point through oxidation. A substance will begin to release heat as it oxidizes. If this heat has no way to escape, like in a pile, the temperature will rise to a level high enough to ignite the oil and ignite the rag or cloth. In this case, drying the rags started the heating process. Washing the oil-soaked cloth doesn’t always remove all the oil and can still pose a threat after drying. The act of folding the linens is usually enough to cool them down below the ignition temperature."

The fire caused about $30,000 in damage. Smoke alarms did not activate because most of the smoke was limited to the garage and laundry room.