Carelessly discarded cigarette to blame for apartment fire

A fire in a Penn Street fourplex that injured four people, displaced 19 and caused about $550,000 damage was caused by careless smoking, a Fire Department spokeswoman said Tuesday.
The blaze was reported just after 2 a.m. Monday at 277 Penn St., a two-story fourplex.
“The cause of the fire  ... (was) determined to be careless discarded smoking material onto an older couch positioned on an exterior balcony,” said Lisa Derderian of the Pasadena Fire Department. “How long it had be smoldering to cause the fire remains undetermined.”
Four people suffered minor injuries jumping from a second-floor unit of the building and were taken to a hospital for treatment, Derderian said.
“They could not exit (via) the stairwell due to heavy smoke and flames,” Derderian said.
Residents said they had to throw their children out of the window first to open-armed neighbors below to catch them.
Firefighters from Pasadena, Burbank, Glendale and South Pasadena assisted on the scene, where crews spent about fire hours, according to the incident report.
Nineteen residents — including two infants — were displaced and receiving assistance from the American Red Cross, Derderian said.
Damage was estimated at $400,000 to the structure and $150,000 to the contents, she said.