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A fire that caused $75,000 in damage to a central-Lincoln apartment building Friday afternoon was caused by an improperly discarded cigarette, according to city officials.

Lincoln Fire and Rescue Capt. Nancy Crist said inspectors determined the cigarette was the culprit in the blaze, which originated on a third-story balcony at 1615 Garfield St. at around 2 p.m. Friday.

The building, which had been home to 12 apartment units, is uninhabitable and was deemed by city inspectors to be a "dangerous structure," according to a housing complaint sent to the property owner.

The apartment's owners have until Sept. 16 to secure the proper permits to either demolish or repair the building.

A firefighter backs off from the heat of the flames Sunday coming from the roof of Romantix, 921 O St. Fire crews responded to the adult novelty store blaze at about 9 a.m. and needed most of the afternoon to extinguish the flames. The building is described as a total loss, but no one was injured.

A massive plume of fire erupts in front of Lincoln firefighters Nick Thill (left) and Mark Sullivan moments after Sullivan ventilated the roof with the blade of his chainsaw at a working fire at 1717 A Street in Lincoln on Wednesday evening, April 6, 2011.

With a fire hose at the ready, Lincoln firefighters look over the underside of a pickup truck which rolled over at the intersection of 16th and L Streets Monday afternoon, April 11, 2011. The scanner call mentioned there was leaking gasoline. One person was taken away on a stretcher to an ambulance.

Marie Yost (left) and Nancy Harter (right) watch from the median on O Street as Lincoln firefighters pour water on the smouldering remains of the Lincoln Public Schools adminstration building on Tuesday morning, May 31, 2011. Harter, who worked in the building for 11 years, said a supervisor contacted staff at 6 a.m. to let them know of the fire.

Heavy smoke envelopes the house fire at 236 S. 27th Street as Lincoln firefighters apply water to the attic fire on Tuesday afternoon, August 16, 2011.

Lincoln Firefighter Nancy Engelbrecht (right) attempts to comfort Shari Elder as Elder watches smoke pour from the apartment building where she lives on Wednesday, March 13, 2013, at 27th and Randolph streets.

Protected against the 1600 degree temperatures emanating from the fire pit, Dorchester Vol. Fire Dept. firefighter Brant Pracheil tosses the Stars and Stripes into the flames on Tuesday, June 14, 2016, during a flag retirement ceremony at the Dorchester American Legion Post 264. A total of 1957 unserviceable flags from the communities of Dorchester, York, Fairmont, Lincoln, Wilber, Fairbury and Crete were retired from life during the ceremony.

The Stars and Strips opens to the swirling wind from the ladder of Lincoln Fire & Rescue Truck 1 on Friday, March 31, 2017, during the bridge dedication ceremony for Staff Sgt. Patrick Hamburger at the Spirit of '76 Armory.

Surrounded by black smoke, a Lincoln Fire Department firefighter uses a pike pole to open the porch ceiling at the scene of a house fire on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019, at 1800 Euclid Avenue.

Matt Barnard, with Beatrice Rural Fire District, uses a torch to spread flames during a prescribed burn of 45 acres of the prairie at Homestead National Monument of America on Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010.

Lincoln Fire and Rescue teams help Alex Lekai and his mother, not pictured, evacuate from her south bottoms home on Thursday, May 7, 2015.

Cuddling her grandson's dog Milo, homeowner Deborah Ganz is consoled by a neighbor as she watches her garage burn on Wednesday, April 6, 2016, in west Lincoln.

A Lincoln firefighter directs his hose on the roof of La Mexicana Market & Restaurant, 17th and P Streets, on Monday, April 13, 2015.

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A Kansas City, Missouri, native, Andrew Wegley joined the Journal Star as breaking news reporter after graduating from Northwest Missouri State University in May 2021.

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According to court records, in July 2021, he allegedly bought and procured fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination record cards that had the CDC's seal on them.

A woman said the suspect grabbed her by the ear, forced her into the car and headed back to North Platte.

The man had been at a party the night of Aug. 5 before he was asked to leave by the host. He then headed to a pizzeria, court records say.

An Omaha woman also died in the head-on crash.

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