UPDATED: Dozens Evacuated After Apartment Fire

A mid-afternoon blaze that severely damaged an apartment at the Bridgewood Apartments complex began accidentally, fire officials ruled.

Inver Grove Heights Fire Chief Judy Thill said the fire, which broke out just before 1pm on Monday afternoon, likely began in the apartment's kitchen. Thill won't know the cause of the fire until the state fire marshal completes an investigation later this week.

No one was injured in the fire, but as many as 30 residents of the apartment complex, located in Inver Grove Heights, were evacuated from their homes for more than three hours while 35 firefighters from the Inver Grove Heights and South Metro Fire Departments fought the flames.

The damage from the blaze was contained to the apartment 306 in the 3122 building of the Bridgewood complex, where the fire began, Thill said. The kitchen of that apartment, she added, sustained heavy fire damage, while the rest of the unit received moderate smoke and heat damage.

Inver Grove Heights police officers cordoned off the building from roughly 1pm to 4pm on Monday.

Several residents — some dressed in pajamas or gym shorts — waited for the "all-clear" sign in the parking lot outside the building. Many more retreated to neighboring buildings or idling cars to warm up while firefighters put out the flames.

"I saw smoke and I got the hell out," said one Bridgewood resident, Paul, who declined to give his last name to Patch. Paul said he fled from the burning building once, only to realize his cat, Zola, was still in the building. Ignoring the fire alarms and the smoke-filled hallways, he rushed back into his apartment, wrapped a frightened Zola in blankets, and carried her back out.

Another resident, who refused to give his name, said he and his wife smelled something burning just before they heard the alarms.

They, too, evacuated the building, then ran back in to grab a purse and other important items.

To view photos from the fire, .