A jerk who tossed a lit cigarette butt into some mulch outside an Arlington condo complex sparked a four-alarm fire that left a man dead and dozens of other residents homeless, the Middlesex County District Attorney's office reports.

In a statement, DA Marian Ryan says:

A man died in this fire and tragically the situation was completely avoidable. The fire started because someone carelessly disposed of smoking materials, most likely a cigarette. It appears that mulch caught fire and the flames quickly spread to a wooden balcony and stairway.

The condo association will be hit with a fine because the mulch was closer to the building than the minimum 18-inch separation required by state code, state Fire Marshal Steve Coan said: