An electrical fire in a gas heater sent smoke into the upper floor of a home in the River Run neighborhood Monday evening, but ended up causing only minor damage.Firefighters from both Davidson and Cornelius responded just before 7 p.m. to the home, at 18624 Silent Falls Cove, off Dembridge Drive, in the east Davidson neighborhood. They found the family who lives there had evacuated after smoke began flowing into upstairs bedrooms.

After an investigation, fire officials determined the cause was an electrical fire in one of the home’s gas heaters. “It appears his heating unit in his attic had a problem in its eletricral wires and caught fire,” Davidson Fire Chief Jeff Almond said Monday night.

The fire was contained in the heater’s enclosure and went out by itself. If it hadn’t, Chief Almond said, it could have ignited a gas line and caused more serious damage.

The 6,300-square-foot home is two years old, according to county land records.

Nobody was hurt in the incident. Thirteen Davidson volunteers on four trucks responded, along with two Cornelius units.