LEWISTON — A fire in a trash can was doused at a Maple Street apartment Wednesday afternoon when a sprinkler head activated and extinguished the flames.

Fire crews went to 68 Maple St. at about 4 p.m. for reports of flames in an upper floor room inside the two-story building at the corner of Bates and Maple streets.

When firefighters arrived, they found the flames mostly extinguished. Nobody was at home when the fire started, according to Lewiston Fire Inspector Paul Ouellette. No one was hurt.

The building sustained extensive water damage and minor smoke damage on the upper floor, Ouellette said. He credited the sprinkler system with stopping the flames before they spread throughout the rest of the apartment.

The cause of the fire was still being investigated later Wednesday.