No injuries reported in Friday fire
—Photo by LYNNE HALEY Flames broke out at this single-family home at 328 Florence Ave. Friday morning. Firefighters wore masks as they entered the vacant house to douse the flames.
—Photo by LYNNE HALEY Firefighters wore self-contained breathing masks Friday as they worked to quell a fire that broke out in a vacant house at 328 S. Florence Ave. in Sandpoint.
SANDPOINT — No injuries were reported after a fire broke out in a home undergoing renovations on Friday morning.
The fire took hold at a home at 325 S. Florence Ave. shortly after 10 a.m.
Selkirk Fire Rescue & EMS Chief Ron Stocking said the person doing the renovation work had left the home on an errand and returned to find it on fire.
When a Sandpoint crew arrived on scene, there was smoke and flames showing.
Stocking said a crew responding from the department's station in Algoma could also see signs of the conflagration.
“One engine could see the smoke from the Long Bridge,” said Stocking.
Crews from Selkirk and the Northside Fire District had the fire knocked down within about 45 minutes.
Stocking said the fire caused an estimated $80,000 in damage to the structure. About $90,000 worth of structure was preserved.
“It may be a tear-down,” Stocking said of the early 1900s dwelling.
A neighboring residence was also damaged by heat from the fire.
The home had no personal belongings in it at the time of the fire, Stocking said.
“It's being investigated by the Idaho State Fire Marshal's Office, but all indications are that it was accidental,” said Stocking.
Stocking said the fire originated in a back bedroom and initially appears to have been started by paints, lacquers and stains that were not in sealed containers. Rags soaked with those materials may also have been left unattended.
“They internally start to gain heat, gain combustion,” Stocking said of the rags.
Stocking recommends that flammable stains and paints should be kept in tightly sealed containers and soaked rags should be properly disposed of.
The fire served as a shakedown run for the department's new ladder truck.
“It did great,” Stocking said.
The new ladder truck enabled firefighters to swiftly mount an aerial attack as other units arrive.