Fire at RJR Exec’s Home Blamed on Cigarette

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, said firefighters in Wilmington, N.C. The three-floor beach home of Reynolds President Andrew Schindler on upscale Figure Eight island was reduced to a row of charred pilings after it caught fire while construction workers 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. Fire officials said inspectors had not made a final determination about the cause of the accidental blaze. But they said it likely was caused by a cigarette butt left by a worker. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco is a unit of RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp.