Outdoor fireplace ignites fire at unoccupied Orient home

A fire at an unoccupied Orient house was quickly contained by Orient firefighters early Monday morning after an assistant chief in the department spotted smoke emitting from the house on his way home from work at about 1:30 a.m.

First Assistant Chief Robert Haase, Jr. saw the smoke at 2190 Village Lane and found the exterior siding and the porch lattice panel burning, according to the Orient Fire Department. He knocked down the flames with a fire extinguisher from his Fire Chief’s vehicle.

Other Orient firefighters responded and finished extinguishing the fire.

Firefighters determined that the fire was started when an outdoor fireplace, which had hot coals in it, ignited mulch on the property, which spread to the exterior siding.