MANCHESTER - Fire officials are investigating the possibility that a fire that displaced three families from a triple-decker Tuesday was caused by heaters being used to rid the structure of bed bugs, the Union Leader reports.

There were 14 people, including five children, living in three units at 45 Schuyler St. on the city's West Side. Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire before it consumed the structure, but the building was left uninhabitable. Five ladder trucks responded at 2:50 p.m., and flames were doused by 3 p.m.

None of the tenants were in the building when the fire broke out, because exterminators were treating the structure for bed bugs.

District Fire Chief Jim Michael said the treatment involved using heaters to raise the temperature in the building to a point that kills the bugs.

Source: Union Leader