Nearly 100 homeless people were evacuated from Providence Church Shelter early this morning after a man and his cigarette addiction started a fire.
Firefighters were called to the shelter, located at 1601 McKinnon Ave., at about 3:30 a.m. after staffers unsuccessfully attempted to extinguish the flames themselves, Shucrita Jones, the shelter's supervisor, told us. She said that the man, who was staying at the shelter for the first time, apparently didn't like the rules there. Jones says all the clients are allowed one smoke break after dinner -- and that's it.
However, this particular client decided to sneak out to get his late-night nicotine fix. After finishing up his smoke, the man foolishly flicked his half-lit cigarette
onto a mattress outside the shelter, which started the blaze that
spread to nearby sheetrock, Jones said.
When the shelter staff observed smoke entering the building, they evacuated all 97 clients, most of whom were sleeping, Jones said.
Firefighters arrived at the scene, and later called police, because they suspected this was no accident. Officer Albie Esparza would only tell us that the fire is being investigated as a possible arson.
"He was a new client who had never been here before and made a dumb decision," Jones told us.
Jones said the shelter had minimal damage and is open for business today.
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