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Cigarettes cause brush fire 

Improperly discarded cigarette butts started a small brush fire Sunday afternoon at Wilderness Cove Apartments in Beaufort, a Fire Department spokesman said.

Tenants at the complex on Talbird Road had put out most of the fire before firefighters responded just before 2 p.m., Lt. Dan Byrne said.

Part of the building's side melted during the small blaze, causing about $1,000 or less in damage, Byrne said.

Sunday's incident provided another example of what happens when people step outside their residence or a business to smoke and throw their cigarette butts on the ground instead of putting them in a proper receptacle, Byrne said.

"We have a rash of these fires usually in the summertime," Byrne said.

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