FD: Sprinklers, alarm saved SE Bend welding shop

BEND, Ore. -

A fire in a southeast Bend industrial park Thursday night caused $30,000 damage to a welding shop, but likely would have been far more severe and spread to adjoining businesses if a sprinkler system and fire alarm hadnt kicked in, officials said.

Firefighters responded around 9:40 p.m. to a fire alarm sounding at Wilson Warehouses, a multi-tenant industrial complex at 1310 SE Armour Road, said Deputy Fire Marshal Cindy Kettering.

They arrived to find the fire in a welding shop, confined to a single tenant in Suites 13 and 14 of the building. Losses were estimated at $15,000 to the building and $15,000 to the contents.

The fire was found to be accidental in nature, Kettering said later Friday, but an exact cause could not be determined.

The fire official said damage to the business would have been far more severe were it not for the fact that the building is equipped with a full fire sprinkler system, which held the fire in check until fire crews arrived and finished putting it out.

The sprinkler head activation also triggered the fire alarm, leading to a quicker dispatch of crews, Kettering said, noting that having occurred at night, it could have been a considerable amount of time before the fire was discovered.

Without a doubt, working fire sprinkler systems and fire alarm systems saved this business, she said.

It was the second fire tackled in southeast Bend Thursday night.

Around 6:45 p.m., a residential structure fire was reported at 21210 McGilvray Road. Crews arrived to find smoke in the rare of the home, in the area of the woodstove, said fire Capt. Darren Root.

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FD: Sprinklers, alarm saved SE Bend welding shop