A blaze in Harewood that heavily damaged a home on Fifth Street was sparked by a chimney fire.
Firefighters had to tear out ceilings to get at stubborn hot spots in a single-storey house after a fire broke out in the attic shortly before 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Dave Leigh, Nanaimo Fire Rescue fire prevention officer, said a fire in a wood stove chimney heated structural wood in the attic, catching it on fire.
"It was a chimney fire, basically, that just exposed to the wood in the ceiling," Leigh said.
The male occupant of the house was not home when the fire broke out and was not injured.