Improperly discarded smoking materials are the suspected cause of a fire that damaged a single story residential structure behind an apartment building on South Fifth Avenue last week.

At about 1 a.m. on Wednesday, June 7, Clallam County Fire District 3 personnel responded to a structure fire on the 300 block of South Fifth Avenue, where they found a removable bench seat from a van/SUV sitting on a concrete slab; the seat had been fully involved in fire and was smoldering by the time firefighters arrived.

Neighbors smelled burning products, investigated the scene, called 911 and extinguished most of the flames with an extinguisher prior to firefighters’ arrived, district representatives said.

The seat was pulled to the lawn by firefighters and fully extinguished with a water extinguisher and a garden hose.

The vinyl siding and the ceiling of the porch were damaged by fire. Siding was pulled away from the wall to check for fire extension, though no damage was noted underneath.

The residents were asleep at the time of the fire and alerted to the fire and smoke by working audible smoke detectors. They were able to re-enter the residence and were not displaced by the fire, district representatives said.

Cause of the fire was due to discarded smoking materials, the district said. Residents told fire district personnel that they smoke cigarettes on the porch and place their cigarette butts in a coffee can on the porch. The can was last located at the base of the bench seat and was black with char.

Clallam County Fire District 3 reminds residents to test their smoke detectors often and change batteries annually, and that if people choose to smoke, have an appropriate area to discard materials that is away from all possible combustible materials.

The Fire District responded with three structural engines, one medic unit and one command vehicle.