A fire in the wall of a cabinet workshop off Canyon Ferry Road early Wednesday afternoon was quickly extinguished by crews from four volunteer fire departments.

East Valley Fire Chief Bill Wegner said tin siding on the wooden structure helped keep oxygen away from the smoldering fire as it crept up a wall from an electrical outlet, which aided firefighters.

“It went up the wall and into the attic, burned some of the trusses and smoldered in the insulation up there,” Wegner said. “We cut the gable out and got some fire (retardant) in there and got control of it pretty quickly. We had to pull some of the ceiling down, but it could have been a lot worse.”

He said initially they thought the blaze started in a wood stove next to the outlet, but further investigation showed electrical wiring behind the outlet was the probable source.

“Still, I hope this reminds people to check their chimneys at this time of year,” Wegner said.

The fire was in the 3600 block of Canyon Ferry Road.

Along with the East Valley volunteers, responders included people from the Eastgate, East Helena and Tri-Lakes fire departments.

Eve Byron: 447-4076 or eve.byron@helenair.com