Fire investigators are still looking for the cause of a house fire near La Pine Tuesday afternoon that forced the evacuation of nearby homes.
La Pine Rural Fire District said it responded around 2:24 p.m. to a fire at a manufactured home at 53782 Boundary Road in a heavily forested area. Neighbors reported concerns that the fire may spread to other homes, trees and vehicles.
Firefighters arrived to find a manufactured home with a snow shed roof, wood shed, multiple vehicles and trees on fire, La Pine Fire said.
RELATED: Evacuations lifted after house fire threatened other homes near La Pine
The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office posted immediate Level 3 “Go Now” evacuations to nearby homes during the fire.
“Significant amounts of ammunition were exploding in the fire,” the fire district said.
Chief Mike Supkis said that exploding ammunition is relatively harmless — he equated it to firecrackers going off. The concern was whether there were guns in the home and if they were loaded and chambered. He said those going off could be as dangerous as a loaded gun being fired. As of Wednesday afternoon, it was not confirmed whether there were any loaded and chambered weapons on the property.
More than two dozen fire personnel and three water tenders with 25,000 gallons of water arrived to fight the fire.
La Pine Fire said firefighters we able to first contain the fire to the property then knock down the main body of fire as resources became available.
The evacuation was lifted about an hour later.
Nobody was home and no injuries were reported.
The home is considered a total loss.
