A fire caused by the spontaneous combustion of paint and resin fumes burned two rooms of a house in the 1000 block of Southwest 20th Street on Saturday.
Jan Childs, 53, and a resident of the single-story concrete block home, called the department after she heard an explosion in her storage room about 5:30 a.m. She checked the origin of the blast and found the south side of her house in flames.
“She had no smoke detectors in her house at all,” Battalion Chief Stephen McInerney said. “But I bet she is a firm believer in them after this.”
No one was injured in the fire, which caused $30,000 in damage. The house was declared uninhabitable after the fire, and Childs is temporarily staying with her son.
Paints, resins and other volatile substances that are stored for a long period of time deteriorate, giving off heat that can spontaneously start a fire, McInerney said.
