SOUTH PORTLAND – A Park Avenue family was displaced Wednesday evening after a porch fire started by a likely discarded cigarette spread to the attic of the single-family house.

Emergency workers were called to 35 Park Avenue after a neighbor reported the fire, and flames were climbing up the side of the two-story home when the first firefighters arrived shortly after 7:55 p.m., South Portland Fire Lt. Robb Couture said.

“The entire front of the building was on fire,” Couture said.

All full-time South Portland firefighters were dispatched to the scene to fight the blaze, along with firefighters from neighboring communities and call firefighters covering the city’s fire stations, he said.

No one was home at the time the fire was reported, and no one was hurt. The exterior of the home had flame damage as well as an interior stairwell. Firefighters had to rip open the roof to ventilate the house, Couture said.

“This was an accidental fire, but conditions are really dry. We want to caution people to dispose of smoking materials properly,” Couture said.

The family who rented the home was able to find temporary shelter with friends or family, Couture said.


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