No one was injured in a small house fire Monday in Lyle that appears to have been started by a discarded cigarette butt.

According to Mower County Chief Deputy Mark May, emergency personnel received a call just before 10 p.m. of a fire at 304 Third Street in Lyle. The property’s renter, Samantha Potter, said she was inside the house when she smelled something burning and the internet went out. She found the siding of the house was on fire and attempted to put it out, but was unsuccessful. She then called the Lyle Fire Department, who arrived and extinguished the fire.

Potter told first responders that a friend had been over earlier and had been smoking outside, May said. A deputy contacted the friend, who admitted to smoking and flipping the cigarette in the direction of the ground instead of into an outdoor cigarette butt can.

The fire melted the siding and damaged part of the foundation and the internet cable, May said. There is no damage estimate at this time. The property’s owner, Jared Koopal, was notified.