City of Covington firefighters fought two fires Friday and Saturday after cooking French fries and burning construction debris went wrong.

A kitchen fire Friday damaged 9316 Tara Drive after the tenant's nephew skipped school and then cooked French fries on the stove, said Assistant Fire Marshall Tony Smith. He then left the home but forgot to turn off the stove.

A fire started and spread to the attic, but a neighbor saw it and notified firefighters at 12:22 p.m. The fire was extinguished but damage to the property and its contents was around $150,000, Smith said.

Saturday saw an even bigger fire at 4221 Robinson St. at 4:40 a.m. which destroyed the vacant home causing around $50,000 to $60,000 in damage, Smith said.

After an investigation, fire officials determined the owner had burned some construction debris in the home's fireplace as he was remodeling the home. However, he had partially taken apart the brick fireplace which allowed embers to get up into the structure causing the entire house to burn, Smith said.