A box truck caught fire in the driveway of 22 High St. in Peterborough around 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
The vehicle belonged to a company doing renovation work inside the house.
Members of Peterborough, Hancock, and Jaffrey fire departments extinguished the blaze. Peterborough Fire Chief Ed Walker said that his department arrived on the scene soon after the call to find the vehicle “fully involved right next to the garage.” He said the fire blistered the paint and cracked a window on the garage, but otherwise left the house unscathed. There were no injuries. The house had been vacant except for the contractors at the time of the incident.
Walker said the fire was likely accidental. “It appears the cause of the fire was improper disposal of wood shavings.” Walker said the floor refinishing company had been sanding and refinishing the floor inside the house, and hadn’t emptied the shavings out of their machinery when they put it away in the truck.
Melissa Goldthwaite, of 24 High Street, said she saw flames “like, huge” in the back part of the vehicle and called the fire department.
“I didn’t know where the men were, so I ran [into the house] to alert them. It didn’t take long for the truck to be ruined,” she said, standing outside her home with her dogs. “Thank goodness the house is OK.” Goldthwaite said a new owner had bought the house earlier in the week.
Walker said three other Peterborough fires started under similar circumstances in recent years, and urged residents to exercise precaution and “properly dispose of anything related to floor finishing and sanding.”