A heat gun used to remove paint caused a fire Friday afternoon in a house just north of Lawrence High School, according to Lawrence firefighters.

Mark Bradford, deputy fire chief for Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical, said no one was injured in the fire, which caused about $5,000 damage.

Firefighters were called about 12:03 p.m. to a 2 1/2-story wood-framed house at 1825 La. that had been converted into three apartments, Bradford said.

The fire was confined to a wall void and was quickly extinguished, Bradford said.

“Our investigation revealed there were painters there today who were removing paint with a heat gun and that heat ignited something within the wall void that caused the fire,” he said.

He said smoke alarms alerted the three occupants who were at home and they were able to get out without harm.