Members of a Westminster family who thought they had put out their cigarette butts returned home after a movie Sunday night to find their house destroyed by fire.
The family, who wasn’t identified, lived in the 6500 block of 73rd Avenue. The fire was called in at 10:52 p.m. by a neighbor who saw flames.
Family members told firefighters they had gone to a movie and that before they left, they had been smoking in the area of the house where the fire started. Firefighters suspected a link between the fire and the cigarettes, according to Westminster Fire Department spokeswoman Diana Allen.
The flames were kept to the living room of the house. But the rest of the house received extensive heat and smoke damage. The fire caused an estimated $150,000 in damage.
No one was injured, Allen said.
Mike McPhee: 303-954-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com
