Bong blamed for fire at Mizzou fraternity

COLUMBIA (AP) -- Fire investigators are blaming an unattended bong for a fire at the Sigma Chi fraternity at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

No one was hurt. But Sunday night's fire occurred on the same floor where a student died in a 1999 blaze.

Fire officials said the blaze could have been worse. A student used a fire extinguisher to knock back the flames in the third-floor bedroom before firefighters arrived and finished extinguishing some still-smoldering debris.

Damage from the fire is estimated to total around $5,000.

Battalion Fire Chief Steve Sapp says police confiscated the bong and took samples to determine whether it was used for drugs.

Fraternity president Daniel Patterson says a small piece of charcoal left on a windowsill, not a bong, started the fire.

He says the fraternity has a no smoking and drug policy in effect.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)