RUMFORD — State fire investigator Dan Young said cigarette ashes discarded in an outdoor planter sparked a fire that damaged seven condos Wednesday morning at Madison Condominiums on Route 2.

Young, from the Office of the State Fire Marshal, said a tenant from Unit 4 and a couple of guests were smoking on the back deck and snuffed out cigarettes on a planter and put the butts in a toilet.

“About an hour and a half later they smelled what they thought was brush or plastic burning but they couldn’t find the origin,” Young said. “They thought the smell was just something that was being swept in by the wind and they just couldn’t figure out what it was, so they didn’t do anything.”

By 4:30 a.m., their back deck was on fire.

Nine people were displaced and seven units were heavily damaged, according to Lt. Keith Bickford of the Rumford Fire Department. 

No injuries were reported.

Young emphasized that snuffing out smoking materials in unsafe containers such as planters can cause fires, even when the butt is disposed of in a metal container or one with water.

“Every time you think you might smell an odor of smoke or plastic burning or something, call the fire department, because they will come down and investigate it and find the cause of it,” he said.

Young said he was thankful that Matthew Roy, who was passing by at 4:30 a.m., noticed the fire, called 911 and woke people up. “He deserves a lot of credit for doing that and getting the people out.”

mhutchinson@sunmediagroup.net