Apartment fire in Hixson apparently caused by cigarette

A fire that gutted a Hixson apartment this morning apparently was caused by careless smoking, according to the Chattanooga Fire Department.

No injuries were reported when an apartment burst into flames at the Gallery Apartments in Hixson, according to a statement from Bruce Garner, fire department spokesman.

The fire department received the alarm at 8:16 a.m. and responded to 400 Gallery Lane with six fire companies. When the first firefighters arrived, Apartment A-8 was engulfed in flames, Mr. Garner stated.

He wrote that all of the residents of that unit were outside and accounted for. While some firefighters worked to get the blaze under control, other firefighters made sure that the other apartment units in the building were evacuated, Mr. Garner stated.

Lt. Anthony Moore with the Fire Investigation Division said the blaze most likely was started by a cigarette butt that improperly was discarded into a trash can.

The family, a mother and her five children, did not have renters’ insurance. Volunteers with the American Red Cross were called to provide temporary accommodations for the family at a local motel.