Fire on Linwood Avenue in North Reading Determined Accidental

A  in North Reading was put out by  Monday. The , according to Fire Chief William Warnock.

According to Warnock, the fire started by the spontaneous combustion of oily rags that were used to stain the deck over the weekend. The rags were put in a plastic container under the deck.

"It is the most probable cause for the fire," Warnock said.

The fire call came in just before 1 p.m. Monday, according to the Fire Department. It took about 20 minutes to extinguish the fire.

No one was home during the fire except for the family's dog, Charlie, who was rescued from a front bedroom. 

Lynnfield, Middleton, Wakefield, Wilmington and Reading helped the North Reading Fire Department at the scene.

Later in the day around 8 p.m., the North Reading Fire Department returned to the scene because items in the kitchen that were smoldering. Firefighters opened up the sliding glass door and put the items outside, according to Warnock.

The Fire Department is still waiting for the insurance assessment to find an exact dollar loss.