PLANTATION, Fla. (AP) - The state fire marshal says careless smoking sparked a fire that displaced 25 families living in a South Florida apartment building.
    
Battalion Chief Joel Gordon says an occupant in the Plantation apartment where the fire started admitted he had been smoking. Gordon tells the Sun Sentinel (http://bitly.com/SWxdcs) that the resident's attempt to extinguish the fire himself delayed a call to 911.
    
Officials say the fire was confined to two apartments. At least seven other apartments in the three-story building were damaged by smoke and water.
    
Gordon says that because the building wasn't required to have a sprinkler system, firefighters had to hoist hoses to the third floor to fight the blaze.
    
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Information from: South Florida Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), http://www.sun sentinel.com

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