By AARON D. FRECHETTE

LINCOLN — Two residents and their pets escaped from a late night fire Friday at a ranch-style home at 47 Old River Road that was sparked by a baseboard heater, Quinnville Fire Chief Stephen Nunes said Saturday.

The chief said that when firefighters arrived on the scene shortly after 11:30 Friday, they found heavy fire and smoke venting out of the back and right sides of the one-and-a-half story, single-family wood-framed structure.
“The firefighters made an aggressive attack through the front door,” Nunes said. “They were able to knock down most of the fire within the first five minutes of their arrival.”
But tense moments were heard over radio transmissions as a firefighter warned others about a gas grill’s propane tank on the back porch. According to Nunes, the fire had burned through the hose connecting the cylinder to the grill. “There was fire around it, so that was a concern,” Nunes said. “One hose line was dedicated to go around to the building.”
Firefighters quickly moved the cylinder. “The tank did not blow up,” the chief said. “There might have been some gas.”
By 11:45 p.m. the “body of the fire was extinguished,” the chief said, but “we were chasing the fire in the attic void.”
According to Nunes, flames made it up into the attic void space and the ladder companies were able to pull the ceiling so engine companies were able to extinguish some of the fire.”
The state fire marshal has determined that the unidentified homeowner, believed to be a middle-aged woman, had turned the baseboard heater on and that set the curtain on fire, with flames quickly spreading to a crawl space above.
In the process, the woman suffered a burn to her thumb, but declined to be transported to the hospital. The woman and a man in the home were able to escape the home with their pets. They ended up leaving shortly after to stay with friends or relatives who had arrived on the scene.
Firefighters from the town’s Quinnville, Lime Rock, Lonsdale and Albion districts responded, along with Lincoln Rescue and Saylesville’s “Rapid Intervention Team.” Nunes explained that the team is “dedicated to saving firefighters if a firefighter should go down. They’re dedicated for that; they don’t get involved in the firefighting involved.”
The home is not habitable and the occupants are staying with friends or family, Nunes said. There was no threat to other homes in the residential area.