UPDATE
On October 7, 2020 the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office with assistance from Oregon State Fire Marshal's Office concluded its investigation pertaining to the house fire at 6550 Carolyn Ave in Gleneden Beach. The investigation revealed Kevin P. Dugger age 64 had intentionally set his home on fire. At the time the fire was set there were two additional people living in an apartment attached to the primary residence. The two occupants successfully fled the property without injury and called 911 to report the fire. Deputies arrested Mr. Dugger for Arson in the First Degree, Arson in the Second Degree and Reckless burning. He was released from the hospital and taken to the Lincoln County Jail where his bail was set at $215,000.
Crews from Depoe Bay Fire, North Lincoln Fire & Rescue, and Newport Fire remained on scene in Gleneden Beach at a residential structure fire that broke out in the early morning hours of October 6. According to Chief Daniels per dispatch information, there were multiple factors that resulted in fire units staging out of the area for law enforcement to arrive to ensure firefighter safety. Crews did make a rescue of one adult from the fire scene and transported the victim, later identified as Kevin P. Dugger to Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital.
After the rescue and a stubborn firefight, command staff made the decision to allow the building to burn in a controlled manner based on the condition of the property and hazardous environment within the structure and around the perimeter. After several small explosions in the residence, crews took a defensive stance from a safe distance and controlled the burn to the property while mitigating exposure to surrounding residences and vehicles, the forest and wild lands.
The winds were in fire fighters favor and they had adequate water and manpower on scene.
Depoe Bay fire crews remained on scene for several hours and worked with community partners such as Lincoln County Sheriff, Office of The State Fire Marshal, Oregon State Police, and the Red Cross. Chief Daniels thanked the mutual aid agencies from Lincoln County who came to cover Depoe Bay and Newport during this multi company, multi jurisdiction response.
