This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The burning end of a cigar — improperly discarded into a plastic garden pot — is believed the cause of a fire that burned the patio and exterior of a Layton mobile home on Saturday, causing about $9,000 damage.
Fire crews were dispatched at 11:53 a.m. Saturday to the mobile home, located in the Rolling Hills mobile home park, 2900 N. Hill Field Road, to find the patio deck and awning on fire, said Layton Fire Department spokesman Doug Bitton.
Crews quickly extinguished the fire before it could penetrate the home's interior.
Bitton said it helped that a bystander had put out portions of the blaze with a garden hose.
The home's residents were out of town, but two cats and a dog — which was administered oxygen by firefighters — were rescued from the home.
Bitton said the cause of the fire was still under investigation, but it appeared that a relative of the owners had been smoking a cigar at the home earlier in the day and had discarded th "cherry tip" of the cigar into a garden pot. The cigar tip apparently smoldered until it caught the pot on fire.