A small fire broke out Sunday at the Comfort Inn Augusta after the building was struck by lightning during a severe thunderstorm Sunday.

Augusta Fire Chief David Groder said the fire department was dispatched to the hotel on Civic Center Drive around 6:30 p.m. after reports of smoke coming from the building. The power went out at the hotel shortly before the smoke was reported.

The smoke was coming from the parapet wall, a false wall displaying the hotel’s sign, at the top of the building where the fire was contained, Groder said. Crews extinguished the fire, and there was minimal damage to the interior of the building, as the fire did not reach the attic.

Groder also said there were no injuries, and the building was evacuated. The lightning strike damaged the fire alarm system, so occupants were not allowed in the building without an alternate monitoring system in the absence of a working fire alarm system.

The Comfort Inn did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Chris Legro, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Gray, said the lightning strike was part of a severe isolated thunderstorm in the Augusta. The Weather Service’s automated observing equipment at the Augusta State Airport measured wind gusts of 60 mph just after 6 p.m., and there were reports of several downed trees in the area as well.

Legro said the storm was particularly severe compared to an average summertime thunderstorm in the region.