A woman who spotted a fire through the woods in southwest Westport Saturday night helped alert residents to a serious fire in their Tee Lane home, and they emerged without injury.

Westport fire crews were called to the scene late Saturday night, following multiple 911 calls. Deputy Fire Chief Daniel Baldwin said an employee at the Acoaxet Club noticed the fire and flashed her car's lights on and off in the direction of the home. Through the woods, the homeowner saw the lights and noticed an orange glow out the window. When he went outside to investigate, he saw that the fire had already burned through the home's roof. Both he and the employee called 911.

When crews arrived, they attacked the fire from outside first while Capt. Bruce Martin led crews to the second floor, where they found fire in the attic and walls. Firefighters pulled out ceiling tiles and walls to expose and extinguish the flames, a difficult task due to the home's architecture.

This section of Westport has a response time of 10 to 12 minutes, and no fire hydrants. Westport called in help from Tiverton, which drew water from a brook on Brayton Point Road, while tankers from Westport, Little Compton and Dartmouth shuttled water to the scene. Additional tankers from Freetown, Acushnet and Lakeville were cancelled en route, and Fall River crews covered Westport's Station 2. Westport responded with two engines, a tanker, and the deputy chief. The on-duty crew of four was supplemented by 11 off-duty Westport fire fighters.

Investigators are looking at the fireplace flue as a possible source of ignition. Though the home did have working smoke detectors, they did not activate because there was no smoke below the second floor ceiling level, the deputy chief said. The home suffered significant smoke, water and fire damage, but fire fighters were able to save a large portion of it.

This is the third building fire over the past month related to a wood burning stove, Deputy Chief Baldwin said, and he said it bears mentioning that homeowners should make sure their fireplaces and stoves are in good working order.

Apart from this fire, Westport saw a chimney fire on Meadow Road on Friday, Feb. 11, and one on Fisher Road on Tuesday, Feb. 22.

"Both fires, particularly the one on Fisher Road, were very close calls," the deputy chief said. "The family was getting ready to go to bed for the evening; had the fire gone unnoticed, the damage would have been significant, not to mention the danger it would have presented to the sleeping homeowners."