Cause of Stephanie Way fire unknown

Fire investigators are sill looking at a cause for a fire which destroyed a home at 1228 Stephanie Way on Friday night.

The 1,550 square-foot home was purchased by Fred Dimas in March, according to the County Recorder's Office.

The home's three occupants and their dog, Bruno, barely escaped the fire, according to East Fork Fire investigator Terry Taylor.

He said indications were that smoke reached down to the floor in the home before it burned.

Dimas said at the scene of the 11:30 p.m. blaze that he woke up the others and they tried to put out the fire, which began around the wood stove in the living room

All three men, dressed in bathrobes and pajamas, and the dog fled into the snow-covered front yard.

East Fork Fire Marshal Steve Eisele said early indications were that the fire was caused by a wood stove problem. Eisele said he plans to return to the scene of the fire on Thursday to determine the final cause.

One man was taken to Carson-Tahoe Hospital for treatment for smoke inhalation; another for second-degree burns on his feet.

The American Red Cross was called in to assist the fire victims. East Fork Fire and Paramedic districts and Johnson Lane Fire District responded to the incident.

Taylor said this is the third fire that can be traced to a woodstove in recent weeks.

"It's so cold outside that people are burning their stoves all night long," he said. "If there is something wrong with the stove, it might not show up with normal use, but it sure will if you burn it all day and all night."