BATH

A fire that broke out Monday on Washington Street was allegedly intentionally started by a pair of juveniles.

That was the word from Sgt. Ken Grimes of the state fire marshal’s office Tuesday afternoon. The fire originated in a belowgrade storage area under the porch and caused damage to the porch but left the house habitable.

One of the juveniles involved was an 11- year-old boy, detained and released into the custody of his mother. The other boy involved is 8 years old and remains in the custody of his mother, Grimes said, but will be referred to the Department of Health and Human Services and could be referred to a juvenile fire setting intervention program.

A Juvenile Community Corrections Officer and the District Attorney’s Office will examine what happened and make a determination for how the 11-year-old will be dealt with, Grimes said.

Firefighters were called out to the scene around 10:30 a.m. Monday for the report of smoke in a building.

“When we pulled up I could see smoke, so I pulled a first alarm right away, and deployed hoses,” said Bath firefighter Jeff McCole.

The largest portion of the fire was in the basement, he said, but as crews hit the fire with water, “we could see that a lot of it was venting out of the top, so we went more for a top attack to chase it out of the basement. It worked out really well.”

He credited a great crew who worked well together.

Firefighters were able to knock out the fire before too much damage occurred, limiting it to smoke damage. Two dogs live at the home as well, but one was still inside the home when crews arrived so McCole went in and found the dog on the second floor, picked him up and got the pet out unharmed.

There were children home with their nanny when the fire broke out at 1141 Washington St., according to Bath Fire Captain Chris Cummings, but everyone got out safely. The house should be livable and repairable; firefighters sectioned off a porch area damaged by fire.

Also a key factor, the occupants in the house got out immediately and called 911 right away, “which gives us a chance to do what we can do as fast as possible without having to play catch up,” McCole said.

dmoore@timesrecord.com