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PUBLIC SAFETY Two-house fire caused by towel left on stove Fire officials don't know whether action was intentional, but woman was placed on mental hold Comment By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune Posted Feb. 20, 2015 at 11:48 AM Updated Feb 20, 2015 at 5:47 PM By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune Posted Feb. 20, 2015 at 11:48 AM Updated Feb 20, 2015 at 5:47 PM » Social News A woman was placed in a protective custody mental hold at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center following a Friday morning fire that heavily damaged her home and the house next door in east Medford. The fire was set by a towel left atop a four-burner, electric cooktop that was turned on in the woman's home at 935 Village Circle, said Greg Kleinberg, fire marshal with Medford Fire-Rescue. "We don't know whether it was intentional or accidental," Kleinberg said. "There are some extenuating circumstances. I don't think she meant to burn down her house." The flames rolled out the kitchen window, broke a window in the house next door at 939 Village Circle, then spread into the attics of both houses, Kleinberg said. The fire was reported by a neighbor at about 8:40 a.m. The caller told dispatch that the woman who lived at 935 Village Circle said her husband was in the house and was burning the house down, Kleinberg said. But when firefighters entered the burning home, the report turned out to be false. One firefighter burned his knee on the hot carpet; another firefighter fell through the floor of the single-story home but was uninjured, Kleinberg said. The firefighter with the injured knee was transported to RRMC, where he was treated and released. The woman who lives at 935 Village Circle, who firefighters say was in her 60s, was taken to RRMC to be treated for smoke inhalation. She was placed in the mental health hold while at the hospital, Medford police said. A woman living at the house next door made it out uninjured. The fire caused about $200,000 in damage at 935 Village Circle and about $100,000 in damage at the home next door, according to Medford Fire-Rescue. Both are single-story homes built in 2001, fire officials said. Jeff Blankenhorn, who lives around the corner, was upstairs paying bills when his mother, who was downstairs, alerted him to the fire. When he ran downstairs and out the door to see, flames were roaring from the windows and siding of 935 Village Circle, choking the street with thick smoke. "Flames were shooting up into the sky from the right side of the house," Blankenhorn said. The fire drew seven engines from three firefighting agencies, along with police, but no one had arrived yet when Blankenhorn first glimpsed the flames. He ran to the front of the house, and he and an off-duty firefighter started yelling into the home to see whether anyone was inside, he said. The fire quickly spread to the house next door, damaging the siding and spewing smoke from attic vents. The houses are only 8 to 10 feet apart, said Kleinberg. "There's not much protection," Kleinberg said. "That's one of the reasons why we promote residential fire sprinklers. This would've been a completely different situation; this would've been a non-event, really." The fire would have been contained to the kitchen and would not have spread to the other house, he said. Tre Jones, who lives around the corner from the fire, got up close to capture some of the flames with the camera on his phone. "I heard windows shattering. You could hear everything breaking. I thought the house was going to blow up," Jones said. A smoky column was visible from Interstate 5, reaching hundreds of feet into the sky. "We could see the black smoke all the way up into the air," said Savannah Kolb. Medford Fire-Rescue Chief Brian Fish said engine companies from Jackson County fire districts 3 and 5 assisted. Crews had the flames under control in about 40 minutes. Fire officials said there were smoke detectors in the house where the fire started, but it's not known whether they were functioning. The blaze closed Village Circle for almost two hours, with police directing traffic past the scene on nearby Golf View Drive. Whether the woman at 935 Village Circle will face criminal charges is not known. "They may charge her to get her some help," Kleinberg said. Reach reporter Ryan Pfeil at 541-776-4468 or [email protected] . Follow him at www.twitter.com/ryanpfeil . By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune Posted Feb. 20, 2015 at 11:48 AM Updated Feb 20, 2015 at 5:47 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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