A fast-moving fire that blanketed a Franklin Street house in flames before being brought under control Friday (July 8) started near a dryer near the front of the home.
But exactly how it started remains to be determined.
Fire Marshal Ralph Tingley said Monday (July 11) that with the point of origin for the blaze nailed down, investigators will try to figure out how the flames started.
Click here to read more about the fire.
Many dryer fires are caused when lint builds up in the exhaust vent and then catches fire.
But Tingley said it’s too early to tell whether that happened or whether something else caused the blaze, like an electrical malfunction.
“Whether it was the dryer itself or a wire associated with it, they’re still looking at that,” the fire marshal said.
The dryer was inside a storage room in the front left corner of the house.
Incredibly, no one was injured in the blaze, which destroyed the two-family home at 16 Franklin St.
Two tenants in the home at the time the blaze began made it out — one with the help of a good samaritan.
Another tenant was at work when the fire occurred.
The Red Cross helped out the house’s residents over the weekend.
The owner of the home set up a GoFundMe page to help the people who lived at the house.
Click here to read about a donation drive set up to help the tenants of the home.
The fire torched the front of the home completely. Heat from the blaze even melted vinyl siding on the home next-door.
Tingley said insurance company officials were in the process of assessing the damage to the home, and deciding whether it has to be knocked down or could be repaired.
