MONTREAL - Over 150 firefighters were called to the scene of a five-alarm fire in the borough of Rosemont-La-Petite-Patrie early Saturday morning.

The fire started on the second floor balcony of a triplex on Normanville Street at 1:54 a.m., and from there, quickly spread to the third floor.

According to Michel Girard, chief of operations with the Montreal Fire Department, the fire was caused by a cigarette discarded in a flower pot.

Girard told Global News the fire also serves as a warning to smokers.

He said people often use flower pots to extinguish cigarettes but warned that the type of earth used in flower pots actually feeds the fire and keeps it burning, rather than putting it out.

It took firefighters roughly two and a half hours to extinguish the blaze.

No one was injured during the fire but a dozen people were forced from their homes.

The fire department, in collaboration with the Red Cross, provided assistance to the families.

Damage to the building is estimated at $150,000.

Rosemont fire

A triplex in Rosemont was heavily damaged in an overnight fire. Saturday, March 12, 2016. Photo Courtesy of TVA.