Cigarette linked to house fire

TOWN OF MAINE --Firefighters extinguished a fire in a Wausau-area home early Friday that investigators think was caused by a cigarette, according to the Marathon County Sheriff's Department.
Firefighters from the towns of Maine and Rib Mountain and the city of Wausau were called after the fire was reported at 12:57 a.m. at 3318 Elk Drive in the town of Maine. Roy Nowak, 61, who rents an upstairs bedroom at the two-story home, told investigators that he had been smoking in the room prior to discovering the fire, Sheriff's Lt. Dale Wisnewski said.
Nowak said he was watching television in the lower level of the home and when he returned to the upstairs room, he saw smoke and used a water hose to water down a mattress and box spring, Wisnewski said. Over the course of two hours, Nowak told deputies that he used the hose several times on the smoldering mattress before discovering a stairwell was on fire, Wisnewski said.
Nowak and the owner of the home, 54-year-old Beth Schwartz, fled from the home and reported the fire, police said. The blaze caused an estimated $50,000 worth of smoke, fire and water damage, Wisnewski said.
Both Nowak and Schwartz suffered from minor smoke inhalation, Wisnewski said.