By Eric Stock

BLOOMINGTON – Residents of a Bloomington apartment had to evacuate in the middle of the night because of a fire.

Bloomington fire crews were called to the 1400 block of North Lee Street at about 2:45 a.m. Crews reported smoke showing from the second floor of the rental home and helped one resident of the lower-level apartment get out of the structure.

No one was injured. The fire was extinguished in less than an hour. Damage to the building is estimated at 15-thousand dollars.

Bloomington Fire Department Public Information Officer Stuart Blade said fire officials say they don’t know if the home had a working smoke alarm.

Investigators say it was an accidental unattended cooking fire. The fire which destroyed an apartment building on Gettysburg Drive last month was also an accidental cooking fire.

Blade said the Red Cross of the Heartland was notified four residents would need assistance.

Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].