We may see fewer of these as the short term rental market for vacant, unsold houses heats up

Fire Marshall blames “oily rags”for one house fire; other remains unsolved.

GREENWICH — Fire officials have determined the cause of one major residential fire this past winter, but a determination has not been made on what sparked another house fire last month.

A fire in a house on Hemlock Drive on Feb. 28 was traced to cleaning products. Fire Marshal Chris Pratico said a person cleaning the house had been using chemicals and cloth before putting them away. The oily rags later burst into flames in a storage area, a case of spontaneous combustion, Pratico said.

It took about 45 minutes for firefighters to extinguish the blaze in the home off Valley Drive in the western section of town. No one was injured in the first in the Mediterranean-style house , which was built in 1919.

Another house fire brought multiple emergency units to a three-story single-family home on Lower Cross Road in the backcountry on March 19. The house was a total loss, as the structure burned to the ground in the blaze.

Pratico said the cause of that fire was still under investigation, and there were no indications at this point what might be the cause.