Fire At Stratford Home Caused By Cigarette: Marshal

STRATFORD, CT — A small fire at a Stratford home was minutes away from turning into a much bigger blaze, until firefighters arrived at the scene, according to the fire marshal.

The incident occurred just after 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at a two-family residence on Thompson Street, according to Assistant Chief Robert Daniel, who is the fire marshal for the Stratford Fire Department.

The department was called about smoke in the home’s basement. When firefighters arrived, they found the smoke was actually coming from a dropped cigarette that had lit part of the exterior of the building on fire, according to Daniel, who said the situation could have escalated to a full basement blaze.

“We stopped it just in time,” he said.

The structure sustained exterior damage, electrical line damage and minor interior damage, according to Daniel, but no one was injured and none of the residents were displaced.