A fire Tuesday night heavily damaged a garage and apartment above it at 654 Mile Square Road in Avon. The attached house owned by brothers Jebediah and Caleb Beal was not damaged, Phillips fire Chief Sean Allen says. Thirty-two firefighters from seven departments responded to the report of a structure fire at about 9:30 p.m. Phillips Fire Department photo

AVON — A fire Tuesday night heavily damaged a garage and the apartment above it at 654 Mile Square Road, Phillips fire Chief Sean Allen said Wednesday.

Firefighters saved a cat that was in the stairwell between the apartment and the garage, he said.

No one was injured and the nearby home was not damaged.

Allen said the cause of the fire will be listed as undetermined.

The occupant of the apartment, Trevor McWilliams, told officials he dropped a lighted cigarette and thought he had extinguished it.

About 32 firefighters responded to the scene about 9:30 p.m. Flames were coming from the front corner and left side of the garage and apartment, and the building was fully engulfed in minutes, Allen said. Firefighters were able to quickly knock down flames from inside the building.

Fire trucks shuttled water from a fire hydrant about 2 miles away at the corner of Amble and River roads. Firefighters cleared the scene about 1 a.m.

The apartment is not livable, Allen said. The American Red Cross was called to help McWilliams. He stayed with the owners of the property, brothers Jebediah and Caleb Beal, who live in the attached house.

Fire departments from Weld, Strong, Kingfield, Rangeley, Strong and Farmington assisted. MaineHealth EMS ambulance personnel and sheriff’s deputies also assisted.

The property is insured but it was unknown if McWilliams had renters insurance.