No injuries after apartment fire in south Columbia

UPDATE 11:45 a.m.: Columbia fire officials said an apartment fire in south Columbia was caused by a cigarette that wasn’t properly extinguished.

Officials said the original call about the fire came from a downstairs apartment whose residents saw smoke coming from their television area. When firefighters arrived they saw the smoke but determined the fire/smoke originated elsewhere.

Firefighters evacuated the building out of precaution and the department’s bus 76 was called to the scene for the temporarily misplaced residents, officials said.

Officials said the origin of the fire was hard to find, and because it was a larger building, they issued a second alarm for additional crews to help find where the fire was coming from.

Officials also said smoke was coming through the other unit’s electrical outlets.

Firefighters were able to find the active fire in wall space on the deck of the unit above where the original call came from and disabled the second alarm, officials said.

The estimated cost of damage from the fire is $5,000.

ORIGINAL: The Columbia Fire Department said there are no injuries after an apartment fire in south Columbia.

Crews were first called to the scene in the 3100 block of Old 63 South just before 9 a.m. Saturday.

The Columbia Fire Marshall told ABC 17 News crews on scene that there was light smoke and smoldering in the wall of a second-story apartment.

Crews cleared the scene in just over an hour.