BATON ROUGE — A house fire on Sumrall Drive that started when a car caught fire Thursday afternoon was caused by arson, the Baton Rouge Fire Department said. 

Firefighters arrived at the house around 1:26 p.m. to find the fire had spread from a 2003 Toyota Corolla parked under the carport to the rest of the house. The fire made its way into the attic of the home and the house next door was beginning to burn, the BRFD said.

Firefighters were able to stop the fire by 1:40 p.m. before major damage could be done to the neighboring home, but the house where the blaze started is a total loss, BRFD said. One adult has been displaced from the house.

The electric meter of the neighboring house was damaged by the fire and power was shut off until repairs are made, with five people being displaced from the neighboring home.