VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Virginia Beach fire investigators say the improper disposal of smoking materials is to blame for a Sunday apartment fire on Broad Street in which 16 people were left homeless and a cat died.

The fire broke out in the 4700 block of Broad Street.

The call came in just after 3:40 p.m. The Virginia Beach Fire Department were dispatched to a two-story multi-family structure fire not far from Town Center. When they arrived around 3:45 p.m., they found heavy smoke coming from the first floor. The fire, which started on the exterior of the building spread quickly to a second floor apartment and was marked under control around 4:40 p.m. Eight units were affected.

Occupants were not home during the incident, and the cause is under investigation.

Crews were on the scene Monday clearing an eight-unit building of the damage caused by a smoker. The fire Sunday afternoon left 12 adults and four children homeless.

“Careless smoking, that sounds about right,” said Jaeda Whitehead, who captured video of the fire with her cell phone camera. “So basically, one of my coworkers came in and said they saw smoke from across the street. I went outside just to see what was going on because it was really close. But by the time I even got outside, you started seeing like the flames and stuff building up. So it started really fast.”

Property managers from S.L. Nusbaum said all tenants are staying with relatives, or they are using their renter’s insurance to pay for hotel rooms.

Two weeks ago, improperly discarded cigarettes caused a massive fire that destroyed eight units in the 600 block of Pheasant Run.

“I would just say, it really is like something you need to look out for because when it gets hotter and everything, a cigarette that’s not put out correctly concerns a massive fire. Well, because even when I worked at our place, who had an ashtray out front on the hotter days, it would catch fire and you did have to put it out.