Fire prevention officers were kept busy investigating two separate house fires that broke out in Nanaimo Tuesday.
The first happened at about 12:30 p.m. at a home at 2855 Glenayr Dr. where a fire broke out in the attic space of a single-storey home.
Dave Leigh, Nanaimo Fire Rescue fire prevention officer, said the fire was caused accidentally when a man left a halogen light on which heated combustible materials in the attic.
"He went away, it smoldered all night and when he opened the (attic hatch) in the morning the air got to it and it let go," Leigh said.
No one was living in the house and no one was injured.
The home suffered fire and water damage to the area ignited by the lamp.
A second fire gutted the main floor of a home at 1431 Bush St.
That blaze broke out shortly after 6 p.m. Firefighters arrived to find flames and heavy smoke pouring out of the kitchen windows.
Ennis Mond, also a fire prevention officer, said he thinks the fire started in the kitchen, but had not determined the cause Wednesday morning.
"I'm pretty sure it started in the kitchen, but what started it I don't exactly know yet," Mond said.
The house was undergoing renovations and two people were working in other areas of the home when the fire broke out.
Mond said the people working in the house heard what sounded like a pop in the kitchen area and discovered the flames when they investigated the noise.
No one was injured and no neighbouring homes were affected.