The winter fire was a reminder that seasonal maintenance is also part of a department?EUR??,,????'???s or company?EUR??,,????'???s safety program.

Fire Chief Phil Stevens said the fire was contained to the Ferris ride-on lawn mower but caused a lot of smoke and heat damage to the two-vehicle garage.

“The smoke was so thick crews couldn’t even see each other going in,” the chief said. “They just kept going in until they could see.”

No injures were reported from the fire.

The chief said the fire appeared to have started around the mower’s battery, adding that the fire isn’t suspicious.

At the time, town workers were outside clearing sidewalks.

“They weren’t even in the building when it happened,” Stevens said. “They came back to the building, and the park foreman could smell smoke and see it around the garage doors.”

Hamilton firefighters put out the fire in less than 20 minutes.

The fire caused approximately $10,000 worth of damage to the mower and the building, Stevens said. The Fire Department and the town?EUR??,,????'???s insurance company are investigating it.