A utility pole is pictured on several power lines Friday in the village of Silver Creek. A line that broke came into contact with a nearby home, sparking a fire. OBSERVER Photo by Anthony Dolce

SILVER CREEK — Two downed utility poles causing a power line to break and come into contact with a home was found to be the cause of last week’s fire in the village.

The chain-reaction incident began as high winds swept through the region Friday morning. According to Capt. Rich Telford of the Chautauqua County Fire Investigation Team, the poles were knocked down by the suspected winds sometime before 11:45 a.m., causing wires to make contact with a property at 12 Tew St.

“This power line struck the house, which had aluminum siding,” Telford said. “The aluminum siding became energized which caused the fire to start inside the wall studs inside the house.”

Silver Creek volunteer firefighters were already on scene for arching wires and spotted smoke coming from the eves of the residence around noon. Crews had to force their way inside and remove a woman unaware off the fire.

“The fire was inside the walls and why the female did not initially discover the fire,” Telford said.

Several neighboring fire departments assisted in dousing the blaze.