(La Porte County, IN) - A backyard shed was destroyed by fire just outside La Porte yesterday afternoon.

Emergency responders about 5 p.m. were called to the 13 hundred block of E. Coachlight Drive.

The property owner told La Porte County Police his family finished cutting his grass then put a new battery on his zero turn riding mower and put it back up in the backyard shed.

A short time later, police said smoke was coming from the structure along with the sound of a crackling fire inside the structure. Flames were soon visible from the roof and both sides of the shed.

The shed and mower were a total loss.

Police said it appears the lawn mower is where the fire started.