Elizabeth Murray

Free Press Staff Writer

An early morning fire caused by carelessly disposed cigarettes damaged a Henry Street apartment building and closed a local deli below, according to city officials.

Tuesday's fire has been classified as an accident, the Office of the Burlington Fire Marshal said.

The Burlington Fire Department responded to an apartment building at 11-13 Henry Street around 1 a.m. after receiving multiple 911 calls. The first floor of the building contains Henry Street Deli, and the second floor has two apartments, the department stated in a news release issued later Tuesday morning.

The first fire engine arrived at 1:03 a.m. and reported heavy fire venting from a window at the top of an enclosed stairway on the outside of a two-story wood-framed building, the department said..

A resident and a visitor in the rear apartment had been alerted to the fire by smoke alarms activated within the unit, said Assistant Fire Marshal Joe Keenan. Two residents of the front apartment and Henry Street Deli were unoccupied at the time of the fire, the department said.

Due to the proximity of adjacent buildings, the fire department called further back-up to the scene. In all, 25 off-duty firefighters also arrived at the scene to supplement the 20 on-duty members already on scene. The department said the fire was declared under control within 20 minutes of arrival.

No residents or firefighters were injured in the fire. One cat and an iguana were also evacuated by firefighters, but a second cat died, the department stated. The American Red Cross provided services to the occupants of both apartments.

Burlington's property database records show the property is valued at $364,400. Damage to the building is estimated to be $100,000 the fire department stated.

On its Facebook page, Henry Street Deli wrote that the fire closed down the business for an undisclosed amount of time.

"Our building suffered some serious fire damage last night," the business wrote. "No one was hurt, but unfortunately we will be closed for the immediate future. We will keep all of you updated as we know more. Thank you all very much for all your support."

Part-owner Jacob Shane was at the store early Tuesday afternoon and said the timeline is unclear, but he is hoping the store will be able to reopen in a few months. He said most of the damage in the store was caused by smoke and water.

"Nothing inside is really salvageable, but the structure is still there, so we still have some bones we can work with," Shane said.

The Office of the Burlington Fire Marshal determined the cause of the fire to be "careless disposal" of cigarettes at the top of the stairway on the east side of the building, the news release stated.

"Residents are reminded to be absolutely sure that their cigarettes are disposed of in a metal container outside of a building," the fire department stated in a news release.

South Burlington, Winooski, and Malletts Bay fire departments provided station coverage while Burlington firefighters were on scene. University of Vermont Rescue also responded to the scene to provide emergency medical services during the incident.

This story was first posted on July 5, 2016. Contact Elizabeth Murray at 651-4835 or emurray@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/LizMurraySMC.

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