BATH — Residents of a Bath apartment building were evacuated when a fire caused by a malfunctioning e-cigarette broke out in one of the units Wednesday night.
Bath Deputy Fire Chief Christopher Cummings said firefighters were called to 55 Lincoln St., at 10:23 p.m. after a woman discovered the fire in her apartment. Bath police arrived on scene first and evacuated the building.
Cummings credited Bath police officers with closing doors after evacuating residents, which helped contain the fire to a single unit. Firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the flames.
All of the residents stayed elsewhere for the night but only the unit where the fire broke out was left uninhabitable. Cummings said it can be repaired.
Crews responded from five neighboring towns and everyone cleared the fire scene by 12:50 a.m. Thursday.
No one was injured.
Bath Fire Chief Lawrence Renaud said Thursday afternoon that an investigator with the state fire marshal’s office has found the cause of the fire to be an electronic cigarette malfunction. The device was located in the living room where the fire broke out.
Renaud said he is concerned that the public may not realize the danger e-cigarettes pose, noting that they can short out and create a spark. Renaud advised smokers to isolate their electronic cigarettes from anything combustible that could ignite.
“I think as far as the message here is that people need to be aware that these things can ignite and cause a fire,” he said.
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