QuickTake:

Head Start of Lane County’s main office sustained broken windows Friday evening after a brush fire broke out in front of the building.

A brush fire damaged Head Start of Lane County’s main office in Springfield on Friday, June 12, according to Eugene Springfield Fire.

At about 7 p.m., firefighters responded to a brush fire at 221 B Street — the address of Head Start’s main office and central kitchen — near downtown. Head Start is a nonprofit that provides preschool, meals, checkups, mental health screenings and other support services for hundreds of low-income families across Lane County. 

A Springfield Police officer had requested a fire response after noticing smoke at the building while leaving the Justice Center, just over a block from Head Start.

The heat from the brush fire broke windows and “nearly ignited” the building’s interior, per fire officials. 

The heat from a brush fire Friday evening broke windows at Head Start of Lane County’s main office in Springfield. Credit: Eugene Springfield Fire image

Crews extinguished the fire then checked the building’s interior and roof to confirm it had not spread.

“Thanks to the vigilance of the SPD officer and a quick fire response, the building was saved,” per Eugene Springfield Fire officials.

Friday evening’s blaze came after the National Weather Service warned that hot, dry and breezy conditions over the weekend could trigger elevated fire risk for areas with dry grass. 

The weather service also issued a 36-hour heat advisory beginning Sunday morning, marking the year’s first “multiday heat event.”

Taylor Goebel covers Lane County's food and drink scene. She has nearly a decade of experience in multimedia journalism, having reported across the Mid-Atlantic on dining, food systems, education, healthcare, local elections, labor and business. She was most recently a food reporter in Washington state, where she documented a fourth-generation fishing family, covered a David vs. Goliath conflict between a national coffee chain and a small Turkish cafe, and had many culinary firsts, from ensaymadas and gilgeori (Korean street) toast to morels and black cod.