Firefighters were able to quickly knock down a fire on the balcony of an 11-storey apartment building before catastrophe struck.

Emergency crews were called to the 1000 block of Henderson Highway at 9:15 Friday night to reports of a fire on a fourth-floor balcony.

Firefighters found a flower pot engulfed in flames and extinguished it before it spread to the structure.

The City of Winnipeg says that evacuation of the building was not required and no injuries were reported.

There have been several fires since spring due to cigarette butts disposed of in flower pots. The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service says that's dangerous because potting soil is a mix of dirt and a number of combustible organic materials such as peat moss, shredded wood and minerals which are combustible.

When a butt is put into a planter, it can smoulder for several hours. Once the container heats up, it can crack, giving the smouldering material oxygen and the opportunity to spread to other combustibles such as decks, balconies, walls, etc.

The WFPS says that smoking material should always be extinguished in an ashtray or deep metal container. Butts should also never be thrown from balconies, car windows, or disposed of near any vegetation such as grass or brush.