BATON ROUGE - The Baton Rouge Fire Department responded to a house fire call in the 3000 block of Pampas Street Sunday around 9:15 p.m.

When firefighters arrived, the fire was coming out of the front room of the house. Firefighters determined that the fire was caused by a space heater being placed too close to the sofa.

The renter reportedly tried to put out the fire himself before crews arrived.

"He saw smoke in the front room and noticed the sofa starting to burn," Public Information Officer Mark Miles said. "He went to get the water hose, but when he returned, the front room was in flames."

Firefighters got the blaze under control around 11:15 p.m. All three people who were inside the home during the fire were able to escape safely, but the house received $40,000 worth of smoke and water damage.