AUBURN — Firefighters quickly extinguished a smouldering fire Tuesday morning in a barn at Wallingford’s Fruit House on Perkins Ridge Road. 

Fire Inspector David O’Connell said a worker admitted to having put out a cigarette on the floor of the barn and walking away at about 10 a.m. The fire caused “very minor damage,” O’Connell said.

The owner of the business has a no-smoking policy. Employees are only allowed to smoke in their cars, O’Connell said.

Workers attempted to extinguish the fire with a fire extinguisher, O’Connell said. “So, kudos to them,” he said.

Employees reported the fire to the owner, who instructed them to call the Fire Department.

There were no injuries.

“I think the employee learned their lesson,” he said.

Auburn Police Sgt. Chad Syphers, left, and Auburn Fire Investigator David O’Connell, center, talk with Peter Ricker at Wallingford’s Fruit House in Auburn Tuesday afternoon near where a small fire was quickly extinguished. Damage from another fire earlier this year can be seen in the background at right. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)