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An electrical failure of an attic fan caused a fire Sunday evening in a single-family home on the 12900 block of Allerton Lane in Fairland, according to county fire officials.

When an occupant tried to plug in an appliance around 5:30 p.m. Sunday, the circuit breaker kept tripping, and he started smelling smoke, according to Capt. Oscar Garcia, spokesman for Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service. He left the house and called the fire department, which was able to control the blaze within 15 minutes, Garcia said.

Garcia said the fire was caused when the occupant plugged an appliance into the same circuit that the attic fan was running on, and the circuit was overloaded.

There were no reported injuries, though the occupants were displaced and the damage to the house is estimated at $22,500, he said.