Cigarette butt blamed for fire that gutted an Ottawa home

Careless smoking is the reason why a family lost their home in Ottawa.

Ottawa firefighters were called to a house fire at 710 Illinois Avenue just before 11 Monday night. When they got to the scene, they saw heavy fire coming from the backside of the one-story house. An Ottawa police officer actually first saw the fire and got the sleeping family out of the home.

Ottawa Fire Chief Steve Haywood says the home is a total loss. He thinks someone smoking behind the house missed a coffee can with their discarded cigarette butt and that led to the fire.