Fire fighters are crediting working smoke detectors for helping keep a house fire in Fairview contained to a single bathroom and bedroom on Tuesday afternoon.

The Afton Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched to a home on County Rd. 143 shortly after 1:00 p.m. Upon arrival they found smoke coming from the home with a fire burning in one of the back bedroom/bathroom areas on the first floor.

Assistant Fire Chief Logan Wilkes said the homeowner realized there was a fire when his smoke detectors began going off. According to Wilkes, the door to the room was closed, helping keep the fire contained until fire fighters arrived.

16 fire fighters responded to the scene, quickly extinguishing the fire and cutting out and removing a portion of the sheetrock and wall that had caught fire. While the home is not a complete loss, Wilkes estimates that between $25-50 thousand in damage was caused from the fire and smoke. However, no injuries were reported.

The cause of the fire appears to be from an electric baseboard heater in the bathroom.

“It’s a good reminder to make sure you have working smoke detectors,” stated Wilkes. “Without them this incident could have been much, much worse.”

SVI photos by Duke Dance