HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Officials with the Henrico County Division of Fire are asking people to make sure your cigarettes are completely out after a fire early Sunday morning.
Crews responded to the 1300 block of Northbury Avenue off of New Market Road for the report of a house fire at 6:58 a.m. First arriving units were on scene in six minutes and reported a single story home with smoke coming from the side of the home and the attic. Firefighters found that the fire on the side of the house had made its way into the attic. Fire crews were able to extinguish the fire quickly, preventing it from spreading to the rest of the house.
No one was injured and the family will be able to get back in their home shortly, officials said.
Henrico County Division of Fire units remained on scene on Northbury Avenue this morning for several hours. After extinguishing the fire, crews remained on scene to help the homeowner with salvage work. The exterior of the home was closed up with heavy duty plastic sheeting and the interior was sealed to allow the homeowner to remain in the home.
The fire started on the outside of the home. The cause of the fire was determined to have been accidental in nature and due to discarded smoking materials outside.
Some safety tips about smoking materials from Henrico Fire officials:
- Put your cigarette out in an ashtray or bucket with sand.
- Use ashtrays with a wide base so they won’t tip over and start a fire. Never put them out in mulch or the ground. Even with the amount of snow we received last week, some areas may be dry enough to catch fire.
- Put cigarettes out all the way. Do this every time. Don’t walk away from lit cigarettes and other smoking materials.
- Put water on the ashes and butts to make sure they are really out before you put them in the trash.
