Careless smoking sparked a fire at 446 Exchange St. in downtown Geneva Tuesday afternoon, damaging a second-story wall and floor area and leaving Fully Loaded 315 with significant water damage.
No injuries were reported. Firefighters’ quick response was credited with preventing the blaze from spreading through the connected three-story commercial and residential block.
The Geneva Fire Department was dispatched just after 12:30 p.m. Crews arrived to find fire and heavy smoke along the exterior rear wall of the second story.
Firefighters quickly extinguished the flames, searched affected areas and checked extensively for fire spreading inside the building.
Damage from the fire was largely confined to the second-story wall and floor area, with minimal damage to an adjacent apartment, officials added.
Investigators determined careless smoking caused the fire. The department urged residents to fully extinguish cigarettes and other smoking materials and place them in a noncombustible container. Smoking materials should never be discarded in mulch, flowerpots, trash containers, on porches or near combustible building materials.
Geneva police, the Ontario County Sheriff’s Office 911 Center and the White Springs and West Lake Road fire departments assisted. Seneca Falls firefighters provided a ladder truck, and the Ontario County Office of Emergency Management helped investigate the cause.
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