Friday apartment fire caused by discarded smoking material

CAMBRIDGE — Discarded smoking material caused an accidental apartment fire at The Meadows of Cambridge Apartments on Friday.

According to a news release from the Office of the State Fire Marshal, the fire, which started on the second floor of a wood-framed balcony at 5238 Primrose Court, was discovered by a neighboring tenant. The discarded smoking material was from a third-floor balcony, the release stated.

It took 20 firefighters 35 minutes to control the one alarm fire.

The fire activated sprinklers on the second- and third-floor balconies. The Office of the State Fire Marshal said the activated sprinklers contained the fire and kept it from spreading into the apartments. The office said an alarm pull station was also activated by a tenant of the third-floor apartment above where the fire started.

“Residential fire sprinklers are proven to save lives, prevent injuries and protect property and valuables,” Acting State Fire Marshal Jason M. Mowbray said. “This is yet another example of how the presence of an automatic fire sprinkler system protected occupants and prevented substantial fire damage to residential property.”

There were no injuries or deaths reported from the fire, which caused an estimated loss of $5,500, according to the Office of the State Fire Marshal.

Rescue Fire Company was the primary responding fire department.