The careless discarding of a cigarette lead to a fire at a Racine IHOP Restaurant Sunday evening.
Racine firefighters were called to the IHOP location at 5800 Durand Avenue for reports of black smoke coming from the roof about 5:30 p.m.
Crews were met with heavy smoke upon arrival and shortly after located the fire inside of a wall on the west side of the building. The fire was extinguished within 16 minutes of the first alarm.
Employees safely evacuated roughly 15 customers from the restaurant. There are no reported injuries.
The Racine Fire Department asks that citizens discard all smoking materials in the approved container.
