CHAUTAUQUA - Investigators have released the cause of the fire that destroyed a home in Chautauqua Institution on Monday.
According to the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office, newspapers on top of a furnace were the initial cause of the fire that consumed the residence at 54 S. Lake Drive and damaged a home at 56 S. Lake Drive. Cold temperatures overnight caused the furnace inside the home to heat up for an extended period which eventually caught a stack of newspapers on fire. The newspapers had been stacked on top of a furnace grate at the time of the fire.
The Chautauqua County Fire Investigation Team has ruled the fire as accidental.