SOUTH HUNTINGDON, Pa. --

The last original covered bridge in Westmoreland County was saved from going up in smoke, thanks to a quick-thinking junior firefighter.

Ian Swank, 15, was listening to a scanner when he heard about a fire at the Bells Mills Bridge -- a nationally recognized historic 159-year-old span in South Huntingdon -- a little before 1:30 p.m. Monday.

Swank got his mother to drive him to the scene, where he tackled the flames with his family's extinguisher before the fire department arrived.

"I am real proud of him," said Swank's mother, Jan. "Not only just him, but the people at the fire department because they taught him what to do."

The bridge runs between South Huntingdon and Sewickley over Sewickley Creek.

According to WTAE's news exchange partners at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Yukon fire Chief Mark Kite said firefighters think a discarded cigarette butt sparked the fire, which began along the side of the road.

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