AUSABLE FORKS -- Several people were sleeping inside their apartments Thursday night when a fire erupted in the building.

As tenants fled the apartment where the fire broke out, AuSable Forks Fire Chief Jason Whisher ran from his home across the street and started banging on doors to wake up the other nine people inside the building.

As thick smoke billowed from the structure at 75 Palmer St., everyone inside, including five children, escaped unharmed.

Whisher, who was relaxing at home when his pager alerted him to the fire next door, said his fellow firefighters arrived at the burning building minutes after the 11:40 p.m. blaze was called in.

"There was heavy black smoke coming out of the window when I got there, and I thought we were going to have a problem," Whisher said Friday afternoon. "Fortunately, we were able to get it in time.

"We contained the fire to the bathroom of the apartment where it started, but that apartment had severe heat, smoke and water damage."

The three other apartments in the building, which is owned by Jay Ward, did not sustain any damage, Whisher said.

"They (the firefighters) did a great job. They made a nice save, and we had a really good turnout."

The two tenants who lived in the damaged apartment were displaced by the late-night fire, which brought about 40 volunteers from the AuSable Forks, Keeseville and Rescue Hose 5 fire departments to the area.

Volunteers from Jay provided standby support at the local station during the three-hour call.

Whisher said the other tenants were able to return to their homes shortly after the fire was contained.

One of those tenants, Deanna Bibeau, said the firefighters "did a wonderful job. I'm really impressed with the firefighters in this town.

"No matter what kind of emergency there is, a car accident or a fire, they're always right there to help. They really did a great job."

It was unclear Friday what started the blaze.

avanvalkenburg@pressrepublican.com