Aug. 29, 2023 2:45p
(WGTD)---The "most probable" cause of a fire that destroyed a 16-unit apartment building in Kenosha Saturday were smoking materials that weren't properly discarded.
Jake Waldschmidt, Division Chief of the Fire Prevention Bureau, bases the conclusion on a close examination of a second-floor balcony and from witness statements.
A second floor tenant, who smokes regularly on the balcony, looked out and saw what appeared to be a smouldering fire in the floor boards.
Waldschmidt said he believes the flames spread to the wall of the balcony and eventually to the building's attic.
Waldschmidt says the tenant believed she had properly disposed of the cigarette.
21 tenants were displaced by the fire. No one was injured.
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