Blaze at apartment complex in Ovid overnight

The Seneca County Sheriff’s Office reports that on Thursday night around 10:45 pm deputies responded to the Verona Village Apartment complex on County Road 139 for the report of a structure fire in the Town of Ovid.When deputies arrived they noticed heavy, thick, black smoke and flames coming from the C block of the complex. According to Sheriff Timothy Luce deputies immediately began evacuating the apartments. Several elderly tenants were woken up by deputies and removed from their apartments, as smoke filled the rooms.One tenant was treated at the scene by South Seneca Ambulance for somke inhalation. The fire was started in apartment C1, which was rented by 69-year-old Douglas Stickler. Deputies say the fire was believed to have been caused by a cigarette butt that was not properly put out inside of a butt can located directly outside the front door to apartment C1.The Ovid Fire Department extinguished the fire along with mutual aid from the Interlaken, Lodi, and Trumansburg Fire Departments. Deputies were also assisted at the scene by New York State Police.