‘We would all have been dead’: Homeless woman and Bend fire official warn of dangers of unattended campfires

(Update: Video, comments from homeless people and the deputy fire marshal added)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Unattended campfires in homeless encampments have kept firefighters busy this fire season. In just one day, Bend firefighters responded to and extinguished two such fires. Last week, a homeless man from La Pine was arrested for leaving a fire pit unattended.

“We would all have been dead,” Elizabeth Carlan recalled of one fire. “And you know, we came in from the back and the heat was so great that Terry had to kick in the back door.”

She recounts the moment she almost lost her life trying to keep warm – a common problem for many homeless people.

“Eventually he flew (unintelligible) to the burn center in Portland. During the flight they sent me pictures – bad, they were bad pictures.”

Carlan hopes her story will warn others about the dangers of keeping warm.

“When the sun goes down, it’s cold, and in the morning it’s cold,” she said.

Bend Deputy Fire Chief Dan Derlacki reiterated his concerns.

“We also had two campfires that were discovered and extinguished by our firefighters in the last 24 hours,” he said Tuesday. “All of these fires had the potential to be catastrophic. Fortunately, these campfires were kept small and extinguished with a single fire engine.”

Embers from campfires, strong winds and dry grass are a recipe for disaster and can quickly wreak havoc. More than 70% of Oregon’s wildfires are caused by humans.

“It takes minutes, maybe even 10 minutes, to get there. The size of the fires doubles about every 30 seconds,” Derlacki said.

Carlan says she and her partner take daily steps to avoid being part of the problem.

“After I sweep it and remove the pine needles and pine cones and everything like that, he actually digs a hole and then rebuilds it,” she said.

Derlaki says they work with Deschutes County education programs and sheriff’s deputies to educate the homeless about defensible areas and fire risks.

“These aid groups go out and work with the people in the camps to prevent fires,” he said. “We’ve seen, I’m sure you’ve seen, some of our fires have been put out thanks to these aid groups. If we put out some of them, we’ll just have to deal with fewer fires.”