The improper disposal of smoking material caused a fire at an Ellsworth apartment building that seriously burned one man and displaced three other people Wednesday morning, the Office the State Fire Marshal said.

The Ellsworth Fire Department responded to 50 Meadow View Lane, a multiunit apartment building, around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. The man who was burned had life-threatening injuries and was taken to Northern Light Hospital in Ellsworth, then transferred to Maine Medical Center in Portland, where he was in critical condition, said Shannon Moss, a spokesperson for the fire marshal’s office.

Firefighters quickly put out the fire and asked the fire marshal to investigate the cause. The roof and room where the fire started were significantly damaged, Moss said, but the building is salvageable.

Moss could not provide information about where the tenants were relocated.