PERU – A Peru firefighter praised a teenager’s quick 911 call for help after she discovered a fire in her bedroom Tuesday morning.

“She called it in in time so we could get it put out,” Deputy Chief Timothy Holland said.

“A little more time and the fire could have shot into other parts of the house,” Holland said.

Holland said that shortly after 11 a.m. the teenager, whose name he didn’t know, called the Oxford County Regional Communications Center, alerting a dispatcher to the fire.

Peru firefighters were dispatched to the Ralph Whalen residence at 91 Auburn Road, Holland said. Auburn Road is also known as Route 108.

“It was called in as a sheet getting caught in a fan in the second floor bedroom. When I got there, there was heavy smoke with fire conditions,” Holland said.

The fan was still turning in the bedroom window, which was open.

Holland and arriving firefighters sealed up the bedroom, which, he said, helped stop the smoke and fire from spreading.

Holland said he called in mutual aid from Canton, Dixfield and Rumford fire departments.

About 30 firefighters and nine pumper and tanker trucks from four departments responded. They were on the scene for 90 minutes.

Holland said the fire was apparently caused by having a box spring and mattress too close to the window.

“It looked like sheets and bedding initially caught fire. The fire was in between the spring and box spring, probably because of the sheet,” he said.

The room sustained heavy smoke damage, water damage, and the first floor underneath the room sustained some water damage, but the house was still livable.

Tuesday’s fire was the second in as many days for Peru firefighters.

At about 5:50 p.m. Monday, the department was sent to a grass and brush fire that was menacing a house at 1146 Auburn Road.

Holland said that when he arrived, flames were shooting up the side of the building while a passer-by, neighbors and the house’s occupant, Lorenzo Vargas, were dumping water on it from water jugs.

Holland credited their actions with helping to prevent further damage.

“When we first went by the residence, it looked like we would have a full-blown structure fire, but we made a good response, and knocked it down quickly,” he said.

He requested help from Canton and Dixfield fire departments.

Holland said the fire appeared to have originated from a plastic ashtray that was full of debris when smoking material was placed in the ashtray but not extinguished properly.

“It caught the ashtray on fire, then spread to the grass and burnt the outside wall of asphalt shingles,” he said.

Damages were estimated at between $300 and $400. The home also sustained interior smoke damage.

No injuries were reported from either fire.