Cigarettes started Cedar Rapids house fire five weeks after purchase

CEDAR RAPIDS - Cigarettes started a fire that caused heavy damage to a Cedar Rapids house less than two months after the owner bought it, officials said.

No one was hurt in the blaze at 120 23rd St. Dr. SE, which was reported around 5:15 a.m. Wednesday. Firefighters reported 30-foot flames shooting from the back side of the house when they arrived.

Investigators determined the cigarettes were improperly discarded into a container on the rear sun porch the night before, fire department spokesman Greg Buelow said. Brett Messenger, 25, had only owned the home for about five weeks before the fire.

"He affirmed it, as well, that he had discarded smoking materials on the porch," Buelow said.

Messenger, a band director at nearby Washington High School, was the only one inside when the fire broke out. He heard noises near the back of the home and escaped safely through the front door, authorities said.

"In a minute or minute and a half, it went from some smoke to completely engulfed," said neighbor Joe Paricka, 34, who called 911.

Buelow said the fire, aided by a breeze, spread from the screened porch to the living room and up to a second-floor bedroom. Those areas sustained extensive damage, and smoke damage was present throughout the house, he said.

Fire officials recommend discarding smoking materials into an ash tray or other non-combustible container, preferably one that is metal. Buelow said placing cigarettes in sand or a bucket of water is the best method to ensure they are extinguished.

Cigarettes piled on top of one another can continue to smolder and ignite into a larger flame, Buelow said. Coals from grills and ashes from fireplaces also should be treated carefully, he said.

"Those coals or ashes need to be in a metal container with a lid," Buelow said. "We usually get a couple of those (fires) over the winter, where they've been put in the garage in a trash can."