Cigarettes blamed for Burlington apartment house fire

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - Officials say cigarettes that were not properly disposed of sparked an early morning fire in Burlington.

Firefighters responded to the blaze at an apartment building on Elmwood Ave. just after 3 a.m. Tuesday.

There were no injuries.

Crews say when they got there, most of the occupants of the six apartments were in the process of self-evacuating through windows, and a few were guided out by firefighters.

“I think that they were just scared in that kind of moment you panic. They didn’t really need to do that is my understanding, I wasn’t here when that was happening,” said Samantha Burns, the property manager.

The fire is not considered suspicious.

Most of the damage is on the porch and on the exterior of the building.

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