A fire which caused an estimated $150,000 in damage on Sunday to a paired patio home and adjacent residence on Griffin Lake Ave. was caused by burning incense, the Chesterton Fire Department said.

Firefighter and investigator Heather Pawlik told the Chesterton Tribune today that incense left unattended started the fire in a second story bedroom/study/utility room. The residents of the paired patio home, at 1200 Griffin Lake Ave., tried to extinguish the fire on discovering it but by that time it was beyond their control, Pawlik said.

On Monday, Capt. Rudy Jimenez noted that on first entering the residence, around 10:45 a.m. on Sunday, firefighters observed numerous candles burning on the first floor as well and immediately extinguished them.

The fire did not spread to the second attached unit of the paired patio home—a robust fire wall consisting of what Jimenez called “beefed-up drywall” prevented the extension—but a residence next door did sustain around $10,000 in heat damage to its vinyl siding.

The CFD estimated damage to the structure at $100,000 and that to contents at $40,000.

No one was injured in the blaze.