A late-night smoke break led to an emergency response at the UniSea bunkhouses last week.

Unalaska's public safety department received reports of a fire at the Attu bunkhouse around 1 a.m. Friday. Fire volunteers arrived to find light-colored smoke pouring out of one of the bunkhouse rooms.

"The building had been evacuated, the alarms were going off, and the Shemya building had also been evacuated due to the proximity," says fire chief Abner Hoage. "The exterior walls are pretty close there."

On closer inspection, Hoage says the fire was contained in a bathroom at the Attu bunk.

"And it was due to carelessly discarded smoking materials," Hoage says. "Someone dropped a cigarette on a towel."

That was enough to do about $2,500 in damage. No one was charged in connection with the fire, but Hoage says smokers should be careful with their ashes and cigarette butts -- and only dispose of them in non-flammable containers.