Apartment Fire Caused By Spent Cigarette: Report

OAK CREEK, WI — Police in Oak Creek say a spent cigarette was the cause of an apartment fire this week on S. Wood Creek Drive.

According to Oak Creek police call logs, the Fire Department and officers were called to an apartment on the 8900 block of S. Wood Creek Drive for a report of a fire.

Police say a 911 caller told authorities they could see black smoke coming from a third-floor porch. First repsonders reported that the fire was contained to a patio outside one of the apartment units.

According to police, when officers spoke with apartment residents that morning, one of the residents told investigators that they were out on the balcony smoking a cigarette at about 7 a.m. He rolled the cigarette out in his fingers to extinguish it, and then threw it over the balcony.

Police said the cigarette landed in a patio area that contained a number of plants and pots. Police said that is the location of where the fire was.