A Tucson man is homeless after an accidental fire destroyed his east side condo, killing his dog and bird on Monday, June 23. The owner wasn’t home when the fire started, but firefighters say a guest who was asleep inside is lucky to be alive.

By the time firefighters arrived just before 11 a.m., there wasn’t much of a condo left. “This apartment is a complete loss,” said Tucson Fire Captain Tricia Tracy. “It’s about $100,000 in damage.”

TFD had the blaze under control in about 10 minutes, but not before a lifetime of memories went up in smoke. Linda, a neighbor, said, “I guess little Muggs died from smoke inhalation, and my neighbor had a $2,000 parrot that was his child, and it’s dead.”

The owner of the condo didn’t want to talk about the fire. Officials with the Red Cross offered him their support. “He’s broken up,” said Dan Neifeld of the Red Cross of Southern Arizona. “I got a call in for mental health and I have a call in to a nurse for physical health, and we’ll have him covered.”

After all was said and done, investigators found that the fire was caused by a carelessly discarded cigarette. The cigarette was discarded on the porch. “If you smoke, make sure you discard your cigarettes in a big ash tray or an area where it’s not going to be combustible,” said Tracy.

The condo’s smoke detector was not working, but firefighters say the guest sleeping there somehow woke up and got out. He was taken to the hospital where he was treated for smoke inhalation.