Hot pot causes fire at Holmstad

Careless cooking caused a fire Sunday night in an apartment at the Holmstad retirement community in Batavia.

A resident had taken a hot pot of soup off an electric burner and placed it on newspapers on a 3-foot-tall wooden stool. The heat ignited the papers, burning them and the stool, according to Batavia Fire Department officials.

The fire was out when firefighters arrived, but there was heavy smoke throughout the first floor and moderate smoke on the second and third floors of the 60-unit building.

No one was injured. Damage is estimated at $5,000 to the building and $10,000 to contents.

The fire happened in Building D at the complex, which is at Route 31 and Fabyan Parkway.

Firefighters from Geneva and North Aurora assisted Batavia in clearing the smoke and checking the well-being of residents.