A mother, her daughter and their three pets escaped injury Wednesday afternoon when a fire of unknown origin severely damaged a home in the 800 block of Mayberry Street.
Firecrackers exploded during the blaze, making Forks-area Fire District 1 Chief Bill Paul first suspect that ammunition was going off.
“I didn’t know if it was ammo or what,” Paul said Thursday.
“It happens all the time. In a lot of [fires], there’s always some type of ammo going off.
“We didn’t know it was fireworks until a couple of hours later.”
Homeowner Charlene Weston later said that M-80s and bottle rockets were among the fireworks, Paul said.
“There were a lot,” he said.
The fire remained under investigation Thursday morning.
The cause was not a wood stove or space heater, Paul said.