RUMFORD – Fearing the worst, 25 firefighters from five departments rushed to a Swain Road home early Saturday night, responding to what was reported as a working structure fire.

However, instead of finding a conflagration, the first arriving firefighters learned it was actually a small fire that had already been extinguished.

“The fire didn’t get into the walls or ceiling. They were lucky,” Rumford Deputy Chief Scott Holmes said of the John O’Leary family at 428 Swain Road.

There were no injuries and only minimal damage.

Four or five people were inside when a ceiling fan switch caught fire at about 5:25 p.m. and ignited hats above it. The burning headgear then fell onto a nightstand and continued to burn items there until someone threw water at it, right before calling 911 and heading outside, Holmes said.

“They did the right thing. They called 911 and got out of the building,” he said.

The serious-sounding call scrambled Rumford and Mexico firefighters and Med-Care Ambulance, all of whom respond automatically to structure fires in either Rumford or Mexico.

En route, Holmes said he then called for tankers and manpower from Andover, Dixfield and Peru, because the home is out of Rumford’s hydrant district, and it was Saturday night, right before Christmas.

Rumford police shut down the road for about 30 minutes. After the walls and ceiling were checked with a thermal imaging camera, the family was allowed back in.