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Magnifying glass revealed as culprit in small fire

Green Valley firefighters put their sleuthing skills to the test Friday evening and helped avert a potentially dangerous situation.

Green Valley Fire District spokesman L.T. Pratt said a Las Campanas resident called firefighters around 6:20 p.m. Friday because she had been smelling smoke inside her house since Thursday but couldn’t find the source of it.

When GVFD firefighters arrived at the home in the 800 block of North Camino Cerro La Silla, they looked through the home and discovered the afternoon sun had hit a magnified glass and ignited a partially sewn quilt on top of a sewing machine.

Nothing else in the home was damaged. Had the quilt been made of a different material, the outcome might have been different, Pratt said.

The afternoon sun and a magnifying glass worked together to ignite a partially sewn quilt last week, prompting a Las Campana resident to call 911.