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

(update: Adding video, comments from homeless, deputy fire marshal)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Unattended campfires at homeless camps have kept firefighters busy this fire season. In just one day, Bend firefighters responded to and put out two such fires. Last week, a La Pine homeless man was arrested for leaving a burn pit unattended.

"We all would have been dead," Elizabeth Carlan recalled of one blaze. "And, you know, we get it in the back, and the heat was so hot that Terry had to kick the back door."

She recounts the moment she almost lost her life trying to stay warm, a common problem for so many living on the streets.

"Ended up flying (inaudible) to the Portland burn center. While he was flying, they sent me pictures --bad, they were bad pictures."

Carlan is hoping her story will be a warning to others about the dangers of keeping warm.

"When that sun goes down, it’s cold, and in the morning, it's cold," she said.

It's something Bend Deputy Fire Marshal Dan Derlacki reiterated the concerns.

"We also had two campfires that were found and extinguished by our fire crews in the last 24 hours," he said Tuesday. "All of those have the potential of being catastrophic. Luckily, those campfires were kept small and put out with one engine."

Embers from campfires, high winds and dry grass are a recipe for disaster and can become devastating fast. More than 70% of Oregon's wildfires are human-caused.

"Takes minutes, maybe up to 10 minutes, for us to get there. Fires double in size every 30 seconds or so," Derlacki said.

Carlan says she and her partner have steps in place every day to not be part of the problem.

"After I sweep it and get the pine needles and pine cones and anything like that, he will actually dig a hole and then build it up," she said.

Derlaki says they work with outreach programs and Deschutes County sheriff's deputies to educate the homeless on defensible spaces and fire risks.

"Those outreach groups are going out and working with those in camps working on preventing fires," he said. "We've seen, I'm sure you've seen some of our fires go down because of those outreach groups. if we're going to eliminate some of them, that's just the less fires we have to deal with."

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