Quick work by members of the Sturgeon Bay Fire Department kept a fire in the siding of a home at 62 West Oak Street from getting out of hand Thursday afternoon. Six units and 19 firefighters were sent to the west side home after a call came in indicating their was a fire in the basement of the home and flames were visible. Assistant Fire Chief Tim Dietman says fire crews arrived within minutes after being paged out and immediately checked the basement, but found no smoke or fire. The building was searched and some occupants evacuated. Firefighters discovered the fire in the siding, low enough to give the impression that the blaze was in the basement. They used a chainsaw and about 150 gallons to attack the blaze, then made sure there were no hot spots. A minimal amount of damage was reported and a small amount of smoke in the building which was dissipated with smoke ejectors. Dietman says it appears that someone intended to toss a cigarette butt into a pail nearby, but missed the mark, hitting the dry lap siding instead. The initial call came in at 12:02PM and firefighters cleared the scene shortly before 1PM.
