CHESTERVILLE — A chimney issue caused the side of a house on West Road to catch fire around the chimney thimble where the pipe connects to the chimney on Tuesday morning, fire Chief Edward Hastings IV said.

The homeowner knocked down the fire with a fire extinguisher before firefighters arrived, he said.

A smoke detector alerted Donald Nemeth and his wife to the fire about 4:08 a.m., he said.

Several fire departments were called with automatic mutual aid but most were canceled except Chesterville, Farmington and Fayette. About 20 firefighters responded to the fire. The residence is near the Fayette line.

About $1,000 in damage was done to the house, Hastings said.

dperry@sunjournal.com