One person is dead after an senior living apartment unit accidentally caught fire in Federal Way early Wednesday morning.

South King Fire and Rescue crews responded to the Meridian Court Apartments, 31420 23rd Ave. S., shortly before 2:30 a.m. April 15 for reports of smoke coming from a single unit on the third floor, according to Community Affairs Officer Lt. Andrew Lowen. The senior living apartments house individuals ages 61 and over.

Initial crews discovered one apartment full of smoke with water flowing from the unit’s sprinkler system. When fire personnel searched the apartment, one deceased victim was found in a living room reclining chair, Lowen said.

King County fire investigators deemed the fire as accidental, and the source of the fire was determined to be from smoking material located close to the victim.

The cause of death is still under investigation by the King County Medical Examiner’s office.

A functioning smoke alarm helped alert surrounding residents and the unit’s sprinkler system extinguished the fire, limiting the spread of the flames, according to the fire department.

Apartments below the affected unit received some water damage, but there were no other injuries to other occupants or firefighters, Lowen said.

The unit’s working fire alarm and the fire suppression sprinkler system at the apartment complex is credited to extinguishing this fire, alerting occupants and saving many lives, Lowen said.