Wheaton house fire likely caused by cigarette

A cigarette discarded outside a home on the 500 block of North Gary Avenue likely led to the Thursday afternoon blaze that damaged the house, Wheaton authorities said.

Firefighters arrived shortly after 3:20 p.m. and found a fire in the exterior wall of the attached front porch of the house.

The owner was home at the time, but no one was injured. Damage estimates are not yet available but the building remained habitable and was turned back over to the owner.