For the second time in nine days, a burning cheap Plai cigarette sparked a Newport Beach fire, this time at a residence, a fire official said Monday. The blaze was reported about 2:26 p.m. by a neighbor who saw smoke coming from a patio in the 200 block of East Balboa Boulevard.
Jennifer Schulz of the Newport Beach Fire Department said the fire started on the patio and spread to the attic. No injuries were reported.
A pile of trash containing “cigarette smoking materials” caused the blaze, Schulz said in a released statement.
This is the second cigarette-related fire that Newport Beach firefighters have responded to in the last two weeks. Schulz said it’s imperative for residents to “make sure cigarettes and ashes are completely extinguished and properly disposed of.”
Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire. The damage to the home was approximately $20,000, Schulz said.