Firefighters from the Houston Rural and Tyrone fire departments responded early Wednesday morning to a fire at a home at 18058 Highway H in Elk Creek.
Houston Rural Fire Chief Don Gaston said two trucks and four men from his department went to the scene at about 1:30 a.m., along with three trucks and seven firefighters from Tyrone.
Gaston said the cause of the fire at the two-story structure appeared to be smoldering cigarettes sitting in an ashtray close to a wall.
“It started there and caught the vinyl siding on fire and then went up in the attic,” he said.
The home is a rental property owned by a Tyrone couple. Gaston said a woman who lives there seemingly had controlled the fire with a garden hose before firefighters arrived.
“But it caught fire again,” he said. “Overall, the house had minimal damage, but it will probably cost several dollars to fix it.”
Personnel from the same two departments responded to the home again at about 1:15 p.m. Wednesday after a re-kindle was reported.