Windham fire caused by unextinguished cigarette

May 12--WINDHAM -- The two-alarm fire that destroyed a young family's home on Horseshoe Road recently was started by a cigarette, according to Deputy Chief William Martineau of the Windham Fire Department.

The fire started outside the 22,000-square-foot, three-bedroom home of the Tibbetts family on April 30, said Martineau, who directed the department's investigation. "It was outside on the deck, so the cigarette may have been on the deck or where the deck attaches to the house," he explained.

"If you recall, it was kind of a breezy day, very dry, so the fire was able to accelerate quite rapidly at the back of the house," Martineau noted. "It probably got inside through open windows and the soffits."

The investigation, concluded late last week, ruled out the possibility that the fire was caused by an electrical malfunction in the family's outdoor hot tub.

"I thought that may be what it was at first," said Martineau.

The town's electrical inspector and the family's insurance company inspector provided information that pinpointed the real cause.

As Fire Chief Tom McPherson had predicted the day of the event, Martineau said that the home near Cobbetts Pond was completely destroyed.

The Tibbetts, a married couple with two small children, had just bought what was their first home less than a year before the disastrous blaze struck on a sunny Saturday afternoon. While firefighters from more than eight local departments battled the fire, extended family members and neighbors stayed nearby to comfort the Tibbetts.

The community has responded to the crises with compassion, Martineau said. One neighbor provided a home for the family to stay in temporarily, and the neighborhood held a clothing drive to support the Tibbetts.

"It was a great show of community support for the family," the deputy chief said.

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