Improperly discarded smoking materials are being blamed for an apartment fire in Columbia Tuesday night.
The Columbia Fire Department responded around 7:13 p.m. to a two-story apartment complex in the 1600 block of Amelia Street, where crews found smoke coming from the second floor.
Firefighters searched the building for residents while others evacuated the complex. Officials say crews contained the fire to the room where it started within 12 minutes of arriving on scene.
No injuries were reported, and the cause remains under investigation by the Columbia Fire Marshal’s Battalion.