GREENWICH — A cozy fire in the fireplace of a Riversville Road home may have ignited a blaze that tore through the home’s attic Sunday afternoon.
Deputy Fire Chief Thomas Zack said the homeowners had a fire going in their fireplace when the home’s smoke alarm went off. The homeowner investigated, saw the roof was burning and called the fire department. When firefighters responded, they found fire in the attic and chimney area. “There was pretty substantial damage done to the rafters in the attic,” Zack said.
Though he wasn’t sure exactly how the fire started, he presumed that embers from the fireplace fire ignited the roof. Zack said as many as three people might have been home during the fire, but all got out safely and no one was hurt. He didn’t have an estimate on how much damage was done to the home, but it is at least temporarily uninhabitable due to smoke and water damage.
Several engines responded to the fire, as well as some tanker trucks, as there are no hydrants in the area. The fire was knocked down in about 20 minutes, Zack said.