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An exhaust fan inside a dryer caused the blaze at a multi-family Bible Street home Thursday night, a fire official said Friday.

Acting Fire Marshal Jim McDonald said fire crews acted quickly in containing the fire in a third-floor kitchen of 25 Bible St. in Cos Cob. The fire started a little after 9 p.m.

"Damage was limited to the dryer itself," he said, explaining that the department ruled out the possibility that the fire started in the dryer drum.

The fire department removed the damaged appliance from the household after extinguishing the blaze.

McDonald could not elaborate on what caused the fan to spark the fire.

"Who knows what was in that fan?" he said.

Deputy Chief Thomas Zack said Thursday night the damage could have been significantly worse if the fire department had not received a quick phone call from one of the tenants. A man who lives on the second and third floors of the home with his wife and three children reported the fire at 9:25 p.m.

"All in all, it was initiating a 911 call quickly that really helped a lot, because if that tenant weren't home it would have been a much, much worse circumstance, especially in an old wood-frame house like that," Zack said.

Smoke was visible from the back of the house when firefighters arrived on the scene, Zack said.

There were no injuries in the incident and only minor smoke damage, he said.

Firefighters safely evacuated the residents of the household while the fire was extinguished, he said.

The house is habitable and the residents stayed there Thursday night, McDonald said.

The crews were on the scene for about 40 minutes, leaving after a cat that had been missing "for a while" was located, Zack said.

Nine vehicles responded from the Cos Cob, central, Sound Beach and North Street stations, McDonald said.

david.hennessey@scni.com; 203-625-4428

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Firefighters contain Bible Street dryer fire