MURPHY — Marc Bovet sifted through the ashes of his "dream home" Monday, lamenting not just the lost family heirlooms and artwork but mourning the deaths of 16 pets that succumbed to the fire.

"It was the home we were going to die in, stay in," Bovet said.

Bovet, and his wife, Jayce, both 42, were well out of harm's way Sunday, shopping in Medford with their two teenage children when the fire broke out. Their five German shepherds and 11 cats, however, were shut inside when the family returned to find their house engulfed in flames.

"It was pretty much too late," to attempt to rescue the animals, Bovet said.

Fire officials proclaimed the 5,000-square-foot, three-story log house on North Applegate Road a total loss. Bovet estimated the 2-year-old home was worth several million dollars. No cause had been determined Monday, and Bovet said he couldn't guess at the source.

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"To this point, we still don't know what happened," he said.

The Bovets spotted smoke billowing from their property at about 3:25 p.m. as they returned home from a trip to town that included stops at Costco, the Grange Co-op and the Olive Garden restaurant. The family waited about 15 minutes for fire crews to arrive and doused their barn to keep it from burning, Bovet said. While they worked, heat from the fire melted a hot tub as if it were no more substantial than a plastic bag, Bovet said, and flames started spreading to nearby forest land.

Fire spreading onto the brushy hills around the house prompted Rural/Metro Fire Department to activate a strike team from Jackson County that included forestry crews and firefighters from the Medford and Ashland fire departments and Jackson County Fire Districts No. 3 and 5.

More than 50 firefighters from 13 agencies worked the fire until early Monday morning, said Jes Webb, public information officer for Rural/Metro. Crews stopped the brush fire at just over 3 acres, Webb said.

Bovet said forest fire was a threat he always assumed his home — with its 16-inch-thick walls of solid wood — could withstand. He just never considered what would happen if the blaze started inside, he said.

Bovet said the home took more than a year to build. He acted as general contractor and lived in a motor home on the property. His family moved to the Rogue Valley about four years ago from Maui, Hawaii, Bovet said. He and his wife are artists, Bovet said, adding that he is semi-retired. The family is now staying with friends in the area.

Webb said it was unclear when fire investigators would determine a cause, but he said the fire did not appear to have suspicious origins. "There wasn't much left," Webb said. "They're going to be struggling with this one."

Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail slemon@mailtribune.com.