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ATTLEBORO -- A small fire that broke out in an industrial building off Eddy Street Tuesday night could have been a lot worse if not for an alert neighbor, a fire official said.

The fire was reported about 8:27 p.m. in a machine shop, CMT Technology at 50 Eddy St.

`` They were closed up for the night, but someone at an ambulance company'' across from the machine shop spotted smoke coming from the roof, Deputy Fire Chief Erik Guillette said. `` Luckily, for them. That building is so isolated, it wouldn't have been much longer that the building would have been really going good.''

The fire was traced to a furnace used for molding plastics. The walk-in type oven apparently malfunctioned, Guillette said.

`` The fire coming out of the oven was starting to get up to the roof deck,'' he said. It took firefighters about a half-hour to extinguish the blaze, and they were on the scene for about 1 1/2 hours.

Damage was estimated at more than $20,000.

Three fire engines and a ladder truck responded with an ambulance.