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Axes, infrared sensor stop Lincoln blaze

BY NICK SAMBIDES JR.

OF THE NEWS STAFF

LINCOLN -- Firefighters used axes and an infrared sensor Wednesday to keep a fire that began, possibly with a spark thrown from an exterior chimney pipe, from spreading inside a house on South Road about a mile from Lee.

No one was injured and the house was slightly damaged, firefighters said.

The incident began at about 7:05 p.m., when residents at 355 South Road noticed heavy smoke outside the house. When firefighters arrived, they saw fire was burning black plastic sheeting that had been skirted around the entire foundation, Deputy Chief Hervey Clay said.

It appeared that sparks from the elbow joint of the stovepipe had fallen onto the sheeting and ignited it, in turn burning several small spots in the house's wood siding, Clay said.

"The house would really have caught if we didn't put it out," Clay said. "Plus it was a very difficult fire to get at in the woods there."

Firefighters used the sensor to detect hot spots in the siding, then cut the spots away with axes and doused them, Clay said.

Two Lincoln fire engines and a tanker -- about 22 firefighters in all -- handled the fire, which was reported under control at 7:40 p.m., firefighters said. The Lee Fire Department also responded to a mutual-aid call.

The fire was the second in two days that firefighters fought successfully. A family was left homeless and three pets died Tuesday in a fire that gutted most of the interior of a trailer and attachment at 29 Highland Ave., firefighters said.

That fire might have started with a malfunctioning coffee machine, firefighters said. A state fire marshal is investigating.

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