A fire at a Bismarck home caused only smoke damage.

Sgt. Jeff Solemsaas said the fire at 1809 Longely Drive was called in at 10:23 a.m. Bismarck Fire Battalion Chief Kurt Leben said a neighbor reported the fire after seeing smoke coming out of the house's chimney.

The first fire department crew on scene reported the house was full of smoke, Leben said.

One crew put out the fire, which started in a basement furnace room, and another searched the residence, Leben said. He said some neighbors had thought a man and his daughter may have been in the house, but no one was found in two searches.

"We verified that nobody was here," he said.

Solemsaas said at the scene that the fire may have started under "suspicious circumstances" but later said it appeared more "unusual" than suspicious.

The fire appeared to have originated from some business papers that were stored in a downstairs room containing a furnace and a water heater, Solemsaas said. He said that appeared strange at first, but officers learned that the residents usually stored such papers in the room.

The fire was contained to the furnace room, he said.

Scorched papers and boxes had been taken from the home and placed in the driveway of the blue house Friday morning as firefighters continued to ventilate the home.

Solemsaas said James and Tamara Dobler had been the owners of the home and were believed to be living there.

According to court documents, Wells Fargo Bank filed for foreclosure on the house at 1809 Longely Drive on April 27, 2006. Wells Fargo claimed the Doblers had failed to make $962.31 monthly payments on a mortgage since Nov. 1, 2005, documents said.

The Burleigh County Sheriff's Department, under court order, sold the house to Wells Fargo on Wednesday at 1:15 p.m. for $144,050.17, which was the amount needed to cover principal, interest and court costs in the matter, according to court documents.

According to state law, the owners of a home sold under foreclosure proceedings have 60 days to redeem the home by coming up with the amount of money bid at the sheriff's sale plus interest.

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@;bismarcktribune.com.)