A cigarette tossed into a trash can in an East Grady Street home was the cause of a blaze Monday afternoon that gutted one side of the duplex and caused heavy smoke damage in the other side, said Capt. Emerson Melton,  Statesboro Fire investigator. 

Christy Pallay and David Lanier, tenants of the home near the Statesboro Regional Library, were not home when  the fire broke out and no one was injured, he said.  However, two pet cats died in the fire.