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<p>LARKSVILLE &#8212; A fire at a residence on Nesbitt Street Tuesday caused minor damage to the building&#8217;s exterior and a rear porch.</p><p>Officials at the scene said the fire may have been caused by a carelessly-discarded cigarette butt.</p><p>Luzerne County 911 said crews were dispatched to the residence in the 200 block of Nesbitt Street for a report of a residential structure fire.</p><p>Larksville fire chief Andrew Kachmar explained the building at 206 Nesbitt St. houses four apartments. He believed the fire started in the back porch of a second-floor residence.</p><p>&#8220;What they had there was some old cardboard boxes, a couple of potted plants,&#8221; Kachmar. He also said there was a container there that appeared to be an outdoor ashtray.</p><p>&#8220;It looks like somebody may have thought they put a cigarette out or just dropped it in the ashtray, and over a period of time, it just caught the cardboard on fire and spread to the rest of the building,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Crews were seen tearing away at the walls and porch area near the rear of the building so they could spray water at hard-to-reach spots. A woman who saw the fire, who declined to be identified, said she heard an explosion before seeing the fire. She then ran inside to alert another woman, who was taking a nap at the time.</p><p>The woman inside the residence at the time also declined to be identified.</p><p>Kachmar said crews were able to put the fire out in time to prevent it from spreading.</p><p>He said residents would be able to return to the residence and no injuries were reported. He added that no further investigation would be conducted.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Courtdale and Larksville firefighters extinguish a porch fire at a Nesbitt street apartment building in Larksville Tuesday afternoon. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL120215porchfire11.jpg</photo0><caption0>Courtdale and Larksville firefighters extinguish a porch fire at a Nesbitt street apartment building in Larksville Tuesday afternoon. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Travis Kellar</p><p>tkellar@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Travis Kellar at 570-991-6389 or on Twitter @TLNews</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Fire chief: Cigarette butt may have sparked fire in Larksville