WINONA, Minn. – Firefighters extinguished a fire on a front porch as it was starting up a wall in the 100 block of East Howard Street – but only after unlocking the front door and letting out a barking dog. Except for the dog, which was in obvious alarm, nobody was home. The fire originated in a plastic bucket on the porch and burned through floor boards and then up the vinyl siding and an under-layer of wood. When the homeowner arrived home, he said he had put out a cigarette in the bucket five hours earlier. At least he thought he had put it out.
