A discarded cigarette sparked a Saturday morning fire that damaged an apartment building on Swan Street in Augusta, officials said.

Augusta Fire Battalion Chief Scott Dunbar said no one was hurt in the fire, which was reported at 5:12 a.m. at a three-unit apartment building at 2 Swan St.

Dunbar, reading a report on the firefighting effort Saturday, said the fire probably started because of an inappropriately discarded cigarette.

The first reports of the fire indicated there was flame inside a room and that one person was still inside, Dunbar said. Firefighters arrived to find light smoke coming out of two sides of the two-story building. Residents were evacuating as crews arrived.

Firefighters searched the building and found there was no one inside, Dunbar said.

The fire report didn’t indicate how many people live in the building.

Firefighters were able to douse the fire quickly with an extinguisher, but crews spent about an hour checking the floor and walls to be sure flames had not spread.

The fire burned a mattress, which was removed from the building, and a small section of wall, Dunbar said.

The apartment where the fire occurred can’t be occupied, Dunbar said, but tenants in the other apartments were allowed to return to their homes.

Dunbar also said firefighters discovered potential code violations in the building. That information has been turned over to the city’s code enforcement office, he said.

Craig Crosby — 621-5642

ccrosby@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @CraigCrosby4

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