Tobacco News and Interesting Information

Beaufort firefighters extinguished a small fire Sunday at Outback Steakhouse that was started by a discarded cigarette, said Fire Marshal Lt. Daniel Byrne.

Customers evacuated the restaurant off U.S. 21, and firefighters responded just before 4 p.m. after workers reported seeing smoke in the building. No injuries were reported and damage was minimal, Byrne said.

Someone flicked the cigarette in the mulch near a side door and it smoldered under the building's siding for a while before starting a fire inside a wall, Byrne said.

Firefighters cut off some of the siding; damages were confined mostly to the outside wall, Byrne said.

"We get about two calls a year just like this dealing with people flicking cigarettes up next to the building at entrance and exit doors," he said. "We are urging all business owners to put a cigarette dispensers can near their doors to prevent these types of incidents."