Mail Tribune News - Worker using torch sets manufactured home fire

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Worker using torch sets manufactured home fire CENTRAL POINT -- A torch touched off a fire early Tuesday that damaged the exterior of a manufactured home. Most of the damage was to the vinyl siding of the home in space 54 of the Greenbrier Terrace Mobile Community at 301 Freeman Road. Damage was estimated at $10,000. "It was not that big of a fire," said Neil Shaw, deputy fire marshal for Jackson County Fire District 3, which sent a dozen firefighters to put out the fire. "It could have been, but we got it out pretty quick." No one was injured in the fire, which broke out about 7:40 a.m. But firefighters had to remove the home's vapor barrier to ensure that the fire was out. Shaw said the fire was caused while someone worked on a heat pump and used a torch to solder a joint. The flame from the torch set afire dryer lint that had built up underneath the structure. "He tried to put it out with a garden hose but the hose was frozen," Shaw said. Shaw said the man made sure a woman inside left the home, then called for help. Mail Tribune Copyright �  The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA