WESTMINSTER : Chimney Blamed for Rooftop Blaze

A fire that apparently was caused by sparks from a chimney destroyed the wood-shingle roof of a two-story house Sunday, fire officials said. No one was injured.

Eleven firetrucks and about 45 firefighters were dispatched to 8461 Hazelwood Circle at 11:30 a.m. after a resident of the house called 911, Battalion Chief Allan White said. The rooftop blaze was extinguished within 90 minutes, he said.

Vincente Paulino, 53, said he was watching a football game on television and that his fiancee was helping her two sons with their homework when two strangers charged into his house and told them his roof was on fire.

While Paulino grabbed a back-yard water hose and headed toward the attic, one of the men sprayed the front part of the roof with another hose, Paulino said.

Paulino “had a large fire going on in the fireplace,” White said. The chimney does not have a spark arrester, he said.