8:35 p.m.Fire investigators have determined the Sept. 16 fire at an east Napa apartment complex, which critically injured one and left 16 homeless, was accidental.

“We don’t have an exact cause of the fire because the evidence was destroyed in the fire,” Napa Fire Capt. Sharon Quick said. “But we have ruled out anything electrical (or) arson.”

The early morning three-alarm fire started in a downstairs unit at the Willow Glen Apartments on Wilkins Avenue off Shetler Drive. The origin of the fire has been traced to a bedroom in the downstairs apartment occupied by Jimmie Schuyler, 61, who suffered second-and-third-degree burns over 30 percent of his body.

Quick said because of Schuyler’s injuries, firefighters had to wait a while before they could interview him. Schuyler is being treated at UC Davis Medical Burn Center in Sacramento.

“We have recently talked to him at the hospital. He is not sure what exactly happened that night. The fire possibly started from a cigarette or a burning candle,” Quick said. “But the fire was so intense it destroyed everything in the one-bedroom apartment.”

Schuyler is recovering from his burns, Quick said.

The fire spread from Schuyler’s apartment, which was one of three on the ground floor, to three upstairs units. Other than Schuyler, all of the occupants escaped unharmed.