UPDATE: Thrown Out Ash Caused Plymouth House Fire On New Years Day

The cause of a house fire on New Year's Day, Jan. 1, has been determined to be ash from the fireplace thrown out in a plastic container and placed outside the home.

 At about 4:12 p.m. Jan. 1 dispatch got a call of a two-story, single-family house fire at 18415 30th Place North in Plymouth at the intersection of 30th Place North and Urbandale Road.

"Arriving on the scene I didn't see anything, smoke or flames, until I was on Urbandale," said Peterson Plymouth Fire Capt. Cory Peterson. "I believe the neighbors called 911 after seeing flames on the back part of the home."

Peterson said because Plymouth fire stations aren't staffed on a holiday like New Year's Day, firefighters and emergency response crews came from their homes.

The homeowners were already outside the home when crews arrived and no one was injured. Peterson said the residents included two adults, at least one child and a dog.

Most of the fire was first seen in the garage and along the four-seasons porch and crews were able to contain and extinguish the fire within 10 minutes from arrival, Peterson said.

At one point the fire got a hold of a propane tank in the garage that shot up in the air, but fire crews were able to take care of that immediately, he said.

"We had heavy fire on the outside of the home and we also went in the front door to make sure there were no pets or people left inside and so we could get into the attic right away," Peterson said. "Once flames reach into a home's attic and onto the roof you usually lose the whole house."

In this case, the house sustained extensive fire and smoke damage. The house had working smoke detectors, he said.

After the fire was controlled and extinguished crews spent another few hours cleaning up, making sure there was nothing smoldering and looking for a cause and exact origin.

All three Plymouth fire stations were called to the fire, which included three ladder trucks and four fire engines. There was also mutual aid from both the Golden Valley and Wayzata fire departments.

The family has been displaced for an indefinite period of time and it is unknown when they will be able to return to their home.