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Barking dog alerts owner to house fire Thursday Nov 10, 2016 at 10:07 AM Nov 10, 2016 at 4:12 PM Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune @RyanPfeil A Central Point man escaped a fire Thursday morning after he was alerted to the flames and smoke by his barking dog. The fire was reported at 6:06 a.m. at 4256 Table Rock Road. Medford Fire-Rescue Battalion Chief Ron Nelson said the fire started in a bedroom and had begun to spread to the attic when crews arrived. One man was inside the house when the fire broke out but escaped, Nelson said. The occupant initially tried to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher, but fled the house after seeing the fire was too involved. No electrical power was going to the house at the time, fire officials said. Firefighters had the fire under control in about 20 minutes. Nelson said they attacked the fire from the outside first, then made entry to deal with the remaining flames. Fire officials said the damage was extensive and that it "will not allow for continued occupancy," according to a department news release. "The stubborn part was working on the attic portion," Nelson said. "Just making sure that we'd stopped it at that room and that it didn't extend any farther into the attic than it already had." Part of Table Rock Road was shut down while crews battled the fire. Nelson said the thick morning fog and the fact that engines needed to be parked on the busy road prompted the closure between Hamrick and Biddle roads. "For the guys to be running around in the street, if we would have kept the street open, it would have been pretty dangerous. People don't see it, there are a lot of lights, it's confusing, it's early morning, it's still dark and foggy," Nelson said. "So we just went ahead and shut the street down just for our safety." Medford responded with four engines, assisted by two others from Jackson County Fire District No. 3. The cause is still under investigation. Candles used in the bedroom were being eyed as a possible cause, according to fire inspector Chase Browning.   Reach reporter Ryan Pfeil at 541-776-4468 or [email protected]. Follow him at www.twitter.com/ryanpfeil.