Columbus firefighters believe the cause of last night’s fire at the Fox Pointe Apartments was a discarded smoking material.

Investigators say that residents in the Creekside Way apartment were using a handmade plastic container in a patio area to store used smoking materials. The container was up against an outside wall of the building and that is the point where the fire started, says Capt. Mike Wilson, spokesman for the fire department.

When residents noticed the fire it had already climbed the vinyl siding and was burning up into the eaves.