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A Friday night fire has caused extensive damage to a home in northeast Austin.

According to Austin Police reports, an APD officer responded to a 911 hang-up in the 1000 block of Third Avenue Northeast. Dispatch advised the officer that the call came from a landline at the residence and that they heard what sounded like a fire alarm going off.

Officers observed heavy smoke in the vicinity and observed active flames coming out of the windows of the residence, reporting that the house was fully engulfed.

According to Fire Chief Jim McCoy, the Austin Fire Department was dispatched to the fire at around 8:36 p.m. When firefighters arrived, they also observed flames visible on the first floor.

Officers checked the immediate surroundings of the residence where a a woman approached the officer and advised she was the daughter-in-law of the owner of the home. She told officers that everybody was safely out of the house and at a nearby home.

According to a State Fire Marshal’s report, the cause of the blaze appears to have been a piece of paper an occupant used to light a cigarette, which was then discarded into a trash can, something corroborated by a witness, who believed the fire may have been caused by a discarded piece of tissue used to light a cigarette. 

Nobody was injured, but the fire caused around $80,000 in damage to the structure and contents.