By Nicole O'Reilly

Careless smoking sparked a fire that tore through the apartment above an east-end store yesterday afternoon, leaving a young family homeless.

Emergency crews originally believed the Barton Street East blaze started in an attic storage area and then spread through the walls, said Hamilton fire public safety officer John Verbeek.

However, a cigarette set the third storey of the building ablaze , with most of the fire damage in the attic.

The fire started around 2 p.m. in an apartment above Harmony Furniture, just west of Barnesdale Avenue North, Verbeek said.

It caused $150,000 damage and the family did not have insurance, he said.

A woman and her two young children were eating lunch in their apartment on the second floor when the fire started, he said.

A friend of the family staying on the third floor of the building smelled smoke and discovered the fire.

The man left before emergency officials could speak with him, but Verbeek said the man returned and said he had been smoking.

No charges are pending.

There were also a few scary minutes when the woman and her young daughter and son could not be located.

But they were already safely outside.

The Red Cross was contacted to help the family find a place to sleep last night.

Verbeek said he could find no smoke detectors in the building.

It is mandatory for landlords to provide working detectors.

The building is owned by the owner of Harmony Furniture, who was in the store when the fire broke out, Verbeek said.

The store has insurance.

However, the main level store suffered only water damage and fire crews covered much of the inventory for protection.

Harmony Furniture is a family business that opened in the spring of 1973.

Barton Street was closed for several hours between Barnesdale and Lottridge Street.