A vacant Butler home on Morse Avenue was condemned following a fire that began in an adjacent dumpster spread to the residential structure late Saturday afternoon, according to Butler Police Capt. Ciro Chimento.

One firefighter was transported to Chilton Hospital for smoke inhalation after the incident, Chimento said. No other injuries were reported.

The home was vacant at the time as the owners had passed away, Chimento said, but was under the care of the owners' son who lives out of town.

A preliminary investigation has indicated that the fire appears to have been caused by the spontaneous combustion of rags covered in varnish that were placed in a dumpster near the house after a deck on the home had recently been renovated.

"The rags spontaneously caught on fire, which caused the house to catch on fire," Chimento said.

Anne Beck, a witness from Bloomingdale, saw the house on fire and said she saw the blaze spread from the right to left side.

"The flames were seeping out of the side, there was smoke everywhere," Beck said. "It was grey and grew into very dark smoke."

Another witness, RoseMarie McDermott, lives up the street said that she can't remember another fire on Morse Avenue in her 15 years living there.

Chimento said multiple 911 calls came in shortly after 3:30 p.m. and multiple units responded, including the Butler Fire Department, Riverdale Fire Department, Kinnelon Volunteer Fire Co., Bloomingdale Fire Department, Tri-Boro First Aid Squad and a Pequannock first aid vehicle.

Chimento said the road was closed for several hours while the officials responded to the fire.