A residential sprinkler system limited fire damage at a Columbus apartment complex on Monday night.

Columbus Fire Department investigators said that the fire was caused by an improperly discarded cigarette, said Capt. Mike Wilson, fire department spokesman.

At about 6:47 p.m., Columbus firefighters were called to the St. Barts Apartments, 745 Sycamore St., for a fire alarm activation. When the first arriving firefighters arrived on the scene, they reported water flowing from a third floor balcony.

Firefighters used a ground ladder to gain access to the balcony and found an activated sprinkler head, smoldering cardboard boxes and minor fire damage on the exterior of the apartment. Firefighters moved the charred debris to allow water from the sprinkler to extinguish hot spots located within the empty cardboard boxes. When firefighters were sure that hot embers were fully extinguished, firefighters stopped the flow of water from the sprinkler system.

Columbus Fire Department investigators spoke to the apartment’s tenant, who shared that he had been smoking on the balcony approximately 30 minutes prior to the sprinkler system activation. The apartment’s tenant told fire investigators the he was storing empty cardboard boxes on the patio from a recent move.

Fire investigators determined that the tenant had been using an empty cardboard box to discard used cigarettes. The tenant told investigators that he believed he had fully extinguished the cigarette before discarding the cigarette in one of the empty boxes. Investigators have classified the fire as accidental in nature as a result of the improper disposal of smoking materials. Damage to the property is estimated at less than $5,000. No injuries were reported.

The fire incident commander, Capt. Dave Dwyer, said that the sprinkler system operated appropriately and helped to avert a more significant fire. “ With plenty of fuel and oxygen, the fire could have easily spread to other combustible materials or potentially entered the living space, if not for the sprinkler system,” said Dwyer said. The Columbus Fire Department has responded to two fire incidents in the past week that were extinguished by automatic sprinkler systems.