Yes, Virginia, God has a sense of humor. (fwd)

> From: Keith Bostic <obfgvp@obfgvp.pbz>
> 
> Forwarded-by: "Steve Fraser" <fgrirs@urnygupner.pbz>
> Forwarded-by: wne@fgbem.pbz (Alan Ritter)
> Forwarded-by: "Aaron Schuman" <fpuhzna@xnjrnu.zgv.ftv.pbz>
> 
>       WILMINGTON, N.C.(Reuter) - A discarded cigarette was the
> probable cause of a fire that destroyed the luxury vacation home
> of the president of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and caused $1
> million in damages, fire officials saidTuesday.
>       The three-floor vacation home of Reynolds President Andrew
> Schindler on upscale Figure Eight island was reduced to a row of
> charred pilings after it caught fire while workers installing
> ceiling tile were at lunch Friday.
>       Damage to the house was estimated at $750,000. Damage caused
> to houses nearby by flying embers as the fire raged was
> estimated at $250,000.
>       ``Every county fire department around was there,'' said a
> spokesman for the Wilmington Fire Department.
>       Fire officials said inspectors had not made a final
> determination of what caused the accidental blaze. But they said
> it likely was caused by a cigarette butt left by a worker who
> told inspectors he had smoked near where the fire started about
> half an hour before the crew left.
>       ``It's a very good possibility it was started by a discarded
> cigarette,'' New Hanover County fire marshal Aubrey Rivenbark
> told the Wilmington Star-News newspaper in Tuesday's editions.
> ''It could've been dropped, caught by the wind and rolled into
> the flower bed.''
>       Rivenbark was not immediately available to comment  Tuesday.
>       R.J. Reynolds Tobacco is a unit of RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp.
> The second-largest U.S. tobacco company, its brands include
> Camel, Winston and Salem.

			 --ted

--
Ted Beatie						      grq@hh.arg
Systems Engineer					     ..uunet!ted
    UUNET Technologies, Inc., 3060 Williams Drive, Fairfax, VA  22031

Ingenuus mens mentis, secus effectus