A mysterious fire yesterday destroyed a small part of a newspaper vendor’s residence in Sophia.

No one was injured in the fire, which followed another one that occurred there last Friday. The fire last Friday destroyed a wall and some $100,000 in books stored in the house’s library. The fire yesterday was confined to a bedroom, after neighbours rushed in and extinguished the flames, and it only damaged a few pieces of cloth.

On both occasions the fire began around 9 am when no one was at the Pattensen/Turkeyen Farming Area residence. Peter and Jennifer Gulliver, who are the owners of the property, were at pains to figure out how the fires started.

Jennifer, a newspaper vendor, has, along with her family, been living at the place for some 16 years. She said yesterday that she did not believe the fires were natural in origin.

The woman said she was downtown when she got the message that her house was on fire. She rushed home to find the fire already extinguished by neighbours who had broken into the house and doused the flames. “It pays to live good with your neighbours,” the woman said, in appreciation of what they had done for her.