(La Porte, IN) - It thankfully didn't take long to put out a fire that damaged apartment housing in La Porte.

Just before 5 p.m. on Tuesday, firefighters responded to a two-story, four-unit residential structure in the 700 block of Clay Street. Fire Chief Andy Snyder said the exterior of the building caught fire and the flames made their way partially inside the structure. Fortunately, it didn’t long to gain control of the fire, which heavily damaged a bathroom area in one of the first-floor apartments.

“They were able to extinguish the fire in about 15 minutes,” Snyder said.

The damaged apartment was occupied by a man, who was burning paper in the backyard and walked away from the fire thinking it had burned out, Snyder said. The fire caught the grass on fire, which then spread to the exterior of the building.  He said the damaged apartment is not habitable at present, but the tenants in the three other apartments were allowed to return.