AMHERST — A bird’s nest that caught fire inside the attic of a home at 809 South East St. prompted a response from the Amherst Fire Department May 25.
Assistant Fire Chief Lindsay Stromgren said firefighters were called to the scene after the homeowner observed a large amount of smoke coming from a gable vent.
When firefighters arrived at around 11:15 a.m., smoke was not visible, but Stromgren said when the vent was removed, firefighters found a blackened bird’s nest. The nest had been built around an apparently overheated wire to an electric fan in the attic.
“The wire overheated and caught the bird nest on fire,” Stromgren said.
Eversource was contacted to cut power to the home, and wood near the wire and bird’s nest was wet down, Stromgren said. The town’s electrical inspector arrived when power was restored.
Stromgren said firefighters were on scene for about 90 minutes, but the fire could have been a lot worse.
“It’s a good thing the homeowner was there to shut off the power to the fan,” Stromgren said.
While no structural damage was caused to the home, and the residents are not displaced, Stromgren said three to four baby birds in the nest died in the fire.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
