Flames leap from car to damage Lynn house

LYNN – A fire sparked by the engine of a Ford Taurus caused damage to a home on Campbell Street Tuesday afternoon.Fire Lt. David Legere said a retired mechanic was trying to help the car’s owner restart the vehicle using ether, which then ignited and leapt onto the home.The car was parked in the driveway of 25 Campbell St., a two-story home.”After he (the mechanic) tried to start the car, flames shot up from the hood and caught on the eaves of the house,” Legere said.The first call came in around 3 p.m. and the fire was quickly under control, with units cleaning up the scene within an hour. Legere said the car was uninsured.Lynn Fire District Chief John Barry said the incident was a working fire with one additional engine called in due to water problems with the first engine to arrive on scene.The department called in the second engine around 3:30 p.m. to help control the damage and establish a better water supply.”The fire started on the outside but it did get into the interior and the home did maintain fire damage to one room on the second floor,” Barry said.”Had they not gone in there and gone about it as aggressively as they did, that house was very much in danger of being taken out completely.”Barry said no fire department injuries were reported and EMS treated one victim on the scene, believed to be the retired mechanic who had been working on the car.