An attached garage at a home in the Shady Rest section of Sandy Hook was damaged by an accidental fire midday on Saturday, August 13, after a hot riding mower parked within that garage ignited nearby objects, fire officials said.

Deputy Fire Marshal Rich Frampton, who investigated the blaze, said the fire occurred at 9 Overlook Knoll Road. There were no injuries. Three people were home at the time of the fire at the Salvitti residence. The fire occurred on one of the hottest, most humid days of the summer, drawing about 30 volunteer firefighters from Sandy Hook, Hook & Ladder, Hawleyville, and Botsford to the scene.

Shortly after the riding mower had been used to cut the lawn and was parked inside the two-bay garage, which is in the home's basement, the odor of smoke was detected, and firefighters were summoned, Mr Frampton said. The blaze was contained to the garage and did not spread to the home's living quarters, he said.

Mr Frampton said he expects that the mower, which was destroyed, probably overheated, causing the fire. The property is insured for loss.

Michael Burton, Sandy Hook's first assistant fire chief, served as the incident commander. When firefighters arrived, both garage doors were closed and thick black smoke was seen emanating from the edges of the garage doors, he said.

Firefighters entered through the home's front door and then went down the basement, where they moved laterally to the garage and then quickly extinguished the blaze using about 250 gallons of water, he said. Firefighters prevented several cans of stored gasoline from igniting, Mr Burton said.

The garage was gutted by the fire, but the blaze did not structurally damage the building, he said. The blaze damaged an area of about 500 square feet.