Pomfret Assistant Fire Chief Edward Bates says Andrew Riley told him he was listening to music Thursday afternoon when the blaze broke out on the upper floor of his 2 1/2-story house.
Bates says Riley didn't smell smoke or hear the smoke alarm going off.
After receiving the call, Riley dashed upstairs and shut a door to the burning room.
Firefighters arrived on the scene and quickly put out the blaze. The damage was limited to the exercise room and an adjoining office.
A fire marshal blamed the fire on an electrical malfunction in the exercise room.
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