Man Found Under Deck Arrested After Small Fire on Lombard Street

Kevin Wade Sproul, 58, was arrested after Eugene Police officers and Eugene Springfield Fire personnel responded to a small fire beneath the deck of a stand-alone house in the 300 block of Lombard Street on March 2, 2026. Sproul was lodged on a probable cause charge of disorderly conduct and on two confirmed warrants, court intake records show.

Eugene Springfield Fire mounted a large response because the blaze was close to the house, and fire crews requested police assistance when they arrived at the backyard. Officers observed Sproul walking toward them from the backyard; earlier in the incident he had been under the deck calling for help, according to police. The heavy response disrupted the block during the evening, a reminder that even a minor burn can draw multiple emergency units to a neighborhood.

Police described Sproul’s actions and state of mind on scene. “He believed he had been chased by some other men who were threatening to kill him and hid under the deck. He lit some plastic on fire while banging on the deck and calling 911 to summon help.” That account was provided by Eugene Police Department investigators as part of the incident report summary.

Witnesses reported seeing and smelling smoke coming from the middle of the deck, prompting 911 calls that brought firefighters and officers to the property. “Some witnesses had seen and smelled smoke coming from the middle of the deck,” investigators noted. Lane County Mobile Crisis intervened on scene; “Lane County Mobile Crisis stopped the fire and they coaxed out the man,” according to responding-agency summaries.

Eugene Springfield Fire checked the residence and the deck for structural damage after the smoke was extinguished. “Eugene/Springfield Fire checked the structure of the residence and deck,” officials reported. Fire investigators identified the burned material as landscaping fabric rather than structural lumber or house siding. “The burnt material was landscaping fabric,” the report states.

The homeowner declined to pursue additional charges arising from the episode. “The owner of the home did not wish to press charges for the reckless burning, reckless endangering, trespass issues that were part of this investigation,” the incident summary records. Despite the homeowner’s choice, Sproul “was lodged on the probable cause charge of Disorderly Conduct into Eugene Municipal court and his two confirmed warrants.”

This Lombard Street incident comes amid other recent, unrelated fire cases in Eugene. Separate reports show a man, Darren Martine Rasmussen, 44, arrested on a second-degree arson charge after surveillance footage showed him setting cardboard alight in a dumpster on west Sixth Alley, and a woman arrested after setting small brush fires near the former Shopko property at Coburg Road and Chad Drive, where officers used a taser around 2:20 p.m. to take the woman into custody.

Officials have not released further details about the two confirmed warrants lodged against Sproul or whether prosecutors will pursue reckless burning or endangering charges despite the homeowner’s decision. Eugene Police and Eugene Springfield Fire have said they will update investigators’ findings as investigations and any municipal filings proceed.