Perry firefighters and police officers responded Sunday afternoon to a fire on the deck of an apartment complex.

At around 2:15 p.m. Sunday, a call came in to the police department from a neighbor that there was a visible fire at the Quail Run Apartments at 2902 Iowa Street in Perry. Emergency crews responded and evacuated the building, and the fire was extinguished within 20 minutes by the Perry Fire Department. According to Fire Chief Chris Hinds, the damage was contained to the exterior of the building and no one was injured.

The fire is under investigation, but Hinds says early indications are that it was caused by a plastic container serving as an ashtray. A cigarette was not properly extinguished, so the plastic melted and caught the wooden deck on fire. The apartment’s residents were not at home at the time of the fire.

The Perry Police Department aided the fire department at the scene.