Discarded smoking materials are believed to have been the cause of a fire in Atlantic Tuesday afternoon that caused extensive damage to a home on Front Street. Atlantic Fire Chief Mark McNees said the call from the residence owned by Bev Carroll and Shane Davis, at 511 Front Street, came in at around 3:30-p.m.

The Chief says Shane received a call from his children who were in the home along with a young friend, about smoke coming from a bedroom closet. The children, ages 12, eight and five, attempted to fight the fire but couldn’t. They escaped the home safely. Davis arrived at the house and attempted to gain access to the home, but couldn’t. McNees said the man eventually broke out a window and tried to use a garden hose to reach the flames.

Atlantic Firefighters arrived and were able to get the fire knocked down and the house ventilated within about 30-to 45-minutes. McNees said he doesn’t know if the kids had been smoking in the house, and they denied doing so, but there was evidence of discarded smoking materials in the closet.

The bedroom and closet sustained extensive fire damage, while the rest of the residence had extensive smoke damage. No injuries were reported, in association with the fire or the attempts to fight it.