Portland firefighters were twice called to the same house on outer Forest Avenue Sunday night after a resident improperly used a wood stove, a deputy fire chief said.

When the first firefighters arrived at 1343 Forest Ave. around 6 p.m., there was smoke billowing from the white, three-story house, which has a “for sale” sign out front.

“There was heavy smoke on the first floor and even heavier smoke on the second floor,” Deputy Fire Chief Robert Thompson said.

Police diverted traffic from a section of Forest Avenue for more than an hour as firefighters used infrared cameras inside the house and a ladder truck above it to search for the source of the fire.

“We ended up determining that it was somebody using a wood stove who had no idea what he was doing,” Thomson said.

The resident started the fire without opening the chimney flue and remained inside as the house filled with smoke. A neighbor who saw smoke coming from the window called 911.

Firefighters ventilated the building and drove off in their trucks around 7:30 p.m. But neighbors called the fire department again at 8:38 p.m. to report seeing the resident through a window starting another fire in the wood stove, Thompson said. The house again started to fill with smoke, he said.

Thompson said firefighters planned to return again on Monday to try to work with the resident, whom he described as “uncooperative.”

The smoke alarms in the house were all removed and on the floor when firefighters arrived, he said.

Thompson did not know the name of the resident.