Sunday's Fire Caused By Cigarette

Director of Public Safety Angel Alicea said that the three-alarm fire at 128 Park Ave. on Sunday was caused by a burning cigarette. He said the Fire Department briefed him on the matter around 3 p.m. 

The cigarette butt was tossed under a stairwell between numbers 128 and 126, Alicea said. The smoke got into the wall of 128 and spread rapidly upstairs.

The fire was discovered by a cable TV installer, Alicea said. 

Alex Karp, a resident on the second floor of 128 Park Ave., also mentioned a cable worker on Sunday night. 

"Imagine if the cable guy wouldn't have been there," Alicea said Tuesday afternoon.

Sunday's fire started a little before 5 p.m. The fire department got the call at 4:45 p.m., said Batallion Chief John O'Brien. Nobody was hurt, but eight apartments had to be evacuated and suffered severe fire, smoke, and other damage from firefighters battling the fire.