Discarded Cigarette Blamed On Small House Fire

A sharp-eyed neighbor and a homeowner with a garden hose managed to keep a house fire from becoming even more serious on Sunday afternoon.

At about 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, fire personnel went to 25 Bartley Street after a neighbor, identified in the fire department report only as John, spotted the fire and banged on the door of the two-family home. A homeowner, Greg Furrier, reportedly grabbed a garden hose and started to fight the fire with it. A Wakefield Fire Department report said that Furrier "did a great job using the garden hose to knock down the fire," and that "if not for the actions of both men the fire would have been significantly worse."

Furrier reportedly suffered minor burns to his fingers when he turned up the water on the faucet, which was hot from the fire, but he did not require any treatment.

Wakefield's Engine 1 put out the rest of the fire and removed melted vinyl siding from the rear of the house to make sure sure it was completely extinguished. Along with some melted vinyl siding, the house reportedly had damage to its porch post and rails. A vehicle parked in the driveway also reportedly received some minor front end damage from the fire's radiant heat.

The department believes the fire started when a discarded cigarette ignited some trash.