Firefighters dowsed a rubbish fire inside a downtown-area warehouse on Monday. 

Officials said the fire, which started shortly after 1 p.m. on July 5, threatened to consume the entire building and surrounding homes. Dan Trujillo, Las Cruces Police Department spokesperson, said sprinklers in the warehouse suppressed the fire until firefighters arrived. 

“Firefighters entered the warehouse and found heavy smoke and fire along the east wall of the building,” Trillijo said in a news release. 

Trujillo said that no one was inside the warehouse when it caught fire. He said the cause of the fire is still under investigation and that damage estimates are not available.

The Las Cruces Fire Department credits a working sprinkler system with helping prevent the fire from spreading and damaging more of the building,” he said. “LCFD encourages the professional installation and utilization of a sprinkler or fire suppression system in buildings that do not already have such a system.”