Electrical fire causes minimal damage to log cabin in Avon

AVON — A Thursday morning electrical fire damaged the ends of two logs on a cabin on Salmon Hole Road, near the Phillips line, Phillips Fire Chief Jim Gould said.

An electrical wire that runs from inside the home to a double flood light outside on the gable end ignited the fixture, he said. The wiring was grounded.

The homeowner woke up about 3 a.m. and noticed smoke in the house. The chinking, a flexible sealant between the logs, was on fire, Gould said. The homeowner put the fire out and stayed in the living room the rest of the early morning. When he woke up again, there was still smoke in the house. He called 911 about 7:15 a.m.

He hadn’t realized the flood light was on fire, Gould said.

About 11 firefighters from Phillips and Strong responded. Other mutual aid departments were canceled enroute, he said.

The electrical breaker tripped shutting off power to the light. When firefighters arrived they shut off the main power breaker to the house.

“We wet the ends of the logs down and used a thermal imaging camera to make sure the fire was out,” Gould said.

There was very minimal damage to the home, he said, just the exterior ends of the logs were charred.