Glass-focused sunlight is being blamed for a Thursday afternoon fire that burned a deck and entered a Lake Shore neighborhood home’s attic space.
Firefighters were called to a one-story home with a daylight basement at 3103 N.W. 95th Place shortly before 1 p.m. Clark County Fire District 6 spokesman David Schmitke said the fire appeared to have started on the home’s back deck.
The fire didn’t appear to be especially destructive, he said, but it did climb up into the home’s attic.
“That’s what made it so stubborn to get at,” he said. “Luckily, we were able to top it there, so it didn’t go any farther.”
Schmitke said the occupants weren’t home at the time, and it appeared some remodeling work had been going on at the home.
Clark County Assistant Fire Marshal Richard Martin said it appears that sunlight focused into a planter behind the house kindled the fire.
It’s not unheard of, he said.
He estimated the fire did about $160,000 in damage to the home’s structure and contents.
Some of the damage came from pulling out so many ceiling and siding panels to get at the fire, he said.
The fire left the home uninhabitable for the time being, he said, and the occupants had secured emergency lodging on their own.
County property records list Robert and Margaret Faber as the home’s owners.
