Bristol firefighters quickly doused a house fire at 1 Jenkins St. this afternoon, before it spread from the deck into the house itself.

The fire started around noon after a smoldering towel was inadvertantly left in a trash barrel, which ignited other items, spread to recycling bins and began burning up the outside of the house. The homeowners, Mike and Ellie Pickering, were home at the time and were alerted by a smoke detector on the first floor. The smoke had entered through a window left open from an earlier oven fire. The smoke from the outside fire poured in through the open kitchen window and set off the alarm.

Mr. Pickering called 911 and moved a gas grill and propane tank away from the flames before firefighters arrived minutes later.

The volunteers brought in one hose and extinguished the flames. They checked the inside of the house and reported that it did not spread beyond the outside shingles..