Fire officials say that oil soaked rags from woodworking stain were the cause of a house fire in Plymouth, Massachusetts, early Saturday morning.
The Plymouth Fire Department says painters were conducting woodwork in the home and disposed the oily rags inside a trash bag and the rags spontaneously combusted causing the fire.
The call came in at 2:41 a.m. on Nautical Way. Multiple 911 calls were received on smoke coming from the residence.
Crews entered through the garage and found heavy fire in the basement of the home. The fire began on the first floor and burned a hole in the floor into the basement.
No one was home at the time of the fire and there were no reported injuries. The blaze resulted in $250,000 worth of damages.
Plymouth Fire added their crews used an advanced thermal camera built into their air masks to help identify a dangerous hazard.
"Our firefighters performed their duties with the utmost professionalism and skill early Saturday morning," Chief Edward Bradley said in a statement. "This was an aggressive fire, with extremely hot conditions and thick black smoke that made fighting the fire and searching for victims extremely difficult. This fire should also serve as a reminder to our community that materials used in woodworking and wood staining must be handled and disposed of in the proper manner."
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The fire was knocked down around 3:30 a.m.
