A malfunctioning appliance led to a fire in the basement of a Clinton home on Dec. 25, according to South Whidbey Fire/EMS.

The next-door neighbor of the Columbia Avenue residence who reported seeing the smoke undoubtably prevented the fire from being far worse, Assistant Chief Terry Ney said.

The call came in around 7:18 a.m. on Christmas Day. The fire was confined to one room in the basement and extinguished within about 15 minutes, though smoke and heat damage persisted throughout the house. The home’s occupants were out of town during the time of the incident.

The fire’s cause was traced back to an electric wine cooler that appears to have malfunctioned, Ney said. No one was injured.

South Whidbey Fire/EMS responded with one engine, three water tenders, two aid units, one rehab unit, one air truck and three command vehicles. WhidbeyHealth provided an ambulance on standby and Puget Sound Energy shut off power to the home.