A fire that destroyed a home at 2269 County Road 4330 on Friday appeared to have started with a discarded cigarette, County Fire Marshal Gene Harrison said.

The Lampasas Fire Department received a call at 3:59 p.m. about a fire at the home of Julian Q. Mercado and his wife, Tammy.

The fire started on a back wooden deck where household items, including blankets and cardboard boxes, were located, Harrison said. The blaze spread from the deck to several windows and to the attic of the doublewide mobile home.

“The firefighters from Lampasas and Kempner did a good job once they got there and kept it from burning all the way to the ground,” Harrison said.

Nevertheless, because of heavy fire damage throughout the resi- dence, the county fire marshal called the home “a total loss.”

Mercado was not at the residence when the fire began, and his wife, who was home, was not injured, Harrison said.

Although the Red Cross was contacted, the couple already had made other arrangements for a place to stay, the fire official said.

At 4:31 when Harrison arrived to investigate the blaze, firefighters had stopped the fire’s spread. Some flames still were visible, though, he said. Firefighters remained at the residence when the fire marshal left at 5:45, Harrison said.

Along with the Lampasas Fire Department and the Kempner Volunteer Fire Department, the Lampasas County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the fire.