UPDATE: Arbors at Signal Mountain apartment fire likely caused by cigarette butts

The firefighters managed to get the fire out quickly. Still no injuries reported. Several residents will be displaced. #ChattFire pic.twitter.com/V5XEOYy0bV

— Chattanooga FireDept (@ChattFireDept) October 26, 2017

UPDATE: The lead fire investigator for Thursday’s 2-alarm apartment fire at The Arbors at Signal Mountain has ruled the cause of the fire as accidental.

The investigator says the fire started on the balcony of apartment 103 on the second floor, most likely from improperly discarded cigarette butts.

___

ORIGINAL STORY: Firefighters made quick work of a large apartment fire Thursday evening, extinguishing the bulk of the blaze at The Arbors at Signal Mountain in about 15 minutes.

All residents exited the building safely and no injuries were reported, according to a news release from the Chattanooga Fire Department. The fire was mainly contained to three apartment units, while two or three others had some smoke and water damage, according to Battalion Chief Carlos Hampton, who served as the incident commander.

At 5:19 p.m., firefighters were dispatched to the apartments at 751 Runyan Drive. Fire Station 17 on Signal Mountain Road is located a short distance away, and when the firefighters got into their fire truck and drove out of the bay, “they could see significant smoke and flames coming from Building 1 in the apartment complex. Captain Troy Milsaps with Quint 17 immediately called for a second alarm response to bring in an additional six fire companies,” the release states.

Hampton said the firefighters located the blaze on the second floor of the three-story building and took in hand-held hose lines.

“After making a primary search and finding no one inside, they worked to get the blaze under control. As firefighters set up two aerials to begin spraying water from above, additional firefighters took in hoselines to the third floor and attic,” the news release states.

Hampton said the firefighters did “an outstanding job” of containing the fire mainly to three apartment units. Additionally, the building had a good fire wall, he said, which assisted the firefighters in containing and extinguishing the bulk of the fire.

A dollar-loss estimate was not available, but the building has a grand total of 18 apartment units, most of which were spared any fire damage. With the wiring damaged by the fire, power had to be disconnected from all 18 apartment units.

Volunteers with the American Red Cross were called in to provide assistance to the fire victims displaced by the fire. Hampton said that if EPB technicians could not restore power to the undamaged units, then the residents in all 18 apartment units would have to stay elsewhere Thursday night.