Firefighters from all five local volunteer fire companies were dispatched at about 5:42 am on Sunday, January 7, to a fire reported at 130 Boggs Hill Road in a Colonial-style house, which was built in 1833. There were no injuries.

Fire Marshal Rich Frampton said that the smell of smoke awakened a middle-aged man, a tenant who was the only person in the two-story house at the time of the incident, resulting in a call for help.

Mr Frampton said that smoldering fire was found burning inside a wall behind an electrical outlet where some electrical wiring had failed. The fire resulted in an estimated $28,000 of damage, he said. The insured house remains habitable.

Firefighters needed to open up the plaster wall where the fire occurred to extinguish it and check for any extension of the blaze. The house has balloon-style construction, which poses a risk for fires that occur within walls spreading quickly.

The fire was extinguished by firefighters in about five minutes, said Dodgingtown Volunteer Fire Company Chief Steve Murphy.