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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend December 14, 2005 Medford firefighters work to extinguish a blaze that destroyed a home Tuesday morning on Carpenter Hill Road outside Phoenix. Fire destroys rural home Residents of the house on Carpenter Hill Road weren’t home when the blaze broke out By ANITA BURKE Mail Tribune Fire ripped through a house on Carpenter Hill Road Tuesday morning, generating flames visible from across the Rogue Valley. The 2,500-square-foot rural home on a hill southwest of Medford was destroyed, Medford Fire Department Training Chief Brian Fish said. Fish said the residents, who operated a permanent cosmetics business that applied tattoos as make-up in the basement of the house, weren’t home when the fire broke out. Officials spent the day trying to contact them. Fish said neighbors reported the fire in the 1100 block of Carpenter Hill Road at 9:30 a.m. Because the road is the boundary between Jackson County Fire District 5 and the area that Medford Fire Department protects, both departments sent trucks and firefighters. Phoenix Fire Chief Matt Lichtenstein was the first to arrive at the home at 9:38 a.m. Half of the home was already engulfed in flames. Advertisement "It was engulfed in just six or seven minutes," said Bob Christian, who lives about a mile and a half away on Independence School Road. He spotted a puff of black smoke that he immediately knew wasn’t a bonfire, then watched from his window as the flames erupted. Medford, District 5, Phoenix and Jackson County Fire District 3 all responded to the blaze, putting 21 people to work at the fire, Fish said. Three tank trucks carried water to portable, vinyl ponds set up at the base of the home’s long, narrow driveway. Hoses snaked along the driveway to carry water to the fire. "When we’re out here away from hydrants, water supply is always an issue," Fish said. Investigators started to study the ruins for clues to the fire’s cause even as firefighters continued to douse smoldering beams and saw through walls looking for hidden hot spots. However, it soon became apparent that the scorched remains of the house were too unstable for investigators to enter, Medford Fire Department Battalion Chief Kurt Bennett said. The fire department called on the city’s public works department to pull down buckled wall studs and clear away collapsing floors with heavy excavating equipment Tuesday afternoon. Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail Fire destroys rural home ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Distance Education Computer Security Ztech Media Hosting Sports Equipment Online Casino Student Loans Online Pharmacy tcg student loan consolidation Online Casino Reviews Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Discount Hotel Reservations Southern Oregon Loans Online Casino News Casino Gambling Sites Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Salvia Divinorum Advertisement s