Pre-Dawn Fire Burns TE Home's Garage

A pre-dawn house fire caused an estimated $50,000 in structural damage and another $10,000 in destroyed contents Wednesday morning in Paoli. No one was injured in the fire which involved three local fire companies.

Paoli Fire Chief Ira Dutter says the fire broke out just before 4:30 a.m. in a trash bag inside the garage of the single family home on Lynne Circle.

Dutter says the bag had been used to dispose of fireplace ashes two days before and the long-smoldering embers caused the blaze. He says the fire has been ruled accidental.

Dutter warns that embers from fireplaces can be cold on the outide, but smoldering deep in the center. The Paoli Chief cautions that fireplace ashes should only be disposed of in metal containers and only outside.

In this case, Dutter says the family was "very lucky" because they were awake when the fire broke out in the center of the home's garage at 4:24 a.m.. In fact the homeowners were in the garage fighting the fire with a garden hose when the first Paoli Fire Company trucks arrived.

Dutter says the fire was brought under control within 15 minutes and the fire scene was cleared within 2 hours.

The Berwyn and Malvern Fire companies assisted Paoli Firefighters on the call.