The city’s fire department is reminding residents to thoroughly douse outdoor fires and safely dispose of ashes after a garage in the hospital district was destroyed early Monday.

“We did discover that the cause of the fire was improperly discarded ashes from a small campfire from the previous evening,” said Jesse Oshell, deputy chief with Greater Sudbury Fire Services. “So certainly our safety message is to be very diligent with extinguishing an outdoor fire and then the proper disposal of the ashes from that.”

Crews responded to the fire shortly after 8 a.m. at a residence on Laval Street, off Regent near McLeod Public School.

The blaze originated in a garage and spread to the roof of the attached home, which Oshell described as a small, brick bungalow.

“It appears they went to clean up the ashes from the campfire this morning and put them in the garbage, and the garbage of course went into the garage,” he said. “There were probably lots of cold ashes but some that contained some heat still.”

Firefighters were able to knock down the flames in the garage fairly quickly, said Oshell, but it took several hours to deal with the fire in the roof of the home.

The house itself is mostly unscathed but the roof will require repairs and the garage is a loss, with damages estimated at $150,000.

Three residents have been displaced while they work with their insurance company, said Oshell.

“It’s a hard lesson to learn but thankfully no one was injured,” the deputy chief said.