A house fire in Scarborough early Wednesday morning was sparked by improperly discarded fireworks, according to fire officials.
The fire in the single-family home on Lillian Way started hours after a neighborhood fireworks display, according to Fire Chief Michael Thurlow. After the display, remnants of the fireworks were left in the road and the residents of the house that caught fire helped clean them up.
This photo posted on the Scarborough Fire Department’s Facebook page shows the damage caused by the fire on Lillian Way.
“Being good neighbors, they got together and swept up those remnants and put them in a plastic bag,” he said. “They put those in a plastic bin next to the house.”
The fireworks were hot enough to start a fire that spread up the side of the house to the attic, Thurlow said. The family was awakened by smoke detectors and was able to evacuate before calling the fire department around 2:30 a.m.
No one was injured.
Thurlow said people who buy and use consumer fireworks should be careful about how they are disposed of after they are used. Most manufacturers recommend that fireworks be soaked in water after use, he said.
“This shows how dangerous fireworks can be,” the department said in a Facebook post.
Scarborough allows fireworks only on certain days of the year, including July 3 to 5, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Starting next year, fireworks will no longer be allowed on July 5.
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