No one was seriously hurt early Monday morning when a fire gutted two DeKalb apartments and caused $50,000 in smoke, fire and water damage.

A total of 29 DeKalb, Sycamore and Malta firefighters battled the blaze at Varsity Square, 1212 Varsity Blvd., in apartments 104 and 120 for almost two-and-a-half hours.

The electrical fire started in an outside first-floor hallway wall space heater and spread into the walls and ceiling of apartment 104. The fire burned through the first-floor ceiling and into the second-story apartment’s floor, said Reuben Nelson, Assistant DeKalb Fire Chief.

“There was a concern that we wouldn’t be able to contain the fire,” Nelson said. “A half-hour into the fire we didn’t have it under control.”

Firefighters delayed fighting the blaze itself to first force open about 20 doors on the buildings first floor while looking for occupants who might not have heard the smoke alarms. Nelson said the department’s policy is to search every room to make sure no one is trapped.

Varsity Square manager Deborah Swedberg said the complex does not usually have problems with hallway-wall heaters, but said there was another small fire about a month ago that burned some carpet.

The residents of apartments 104 and 120 have been relocated to other apartments in the building, she said.

Bill Nicklas, DeKalb Building and Community Services director, said that although tenants were alerted to the fire by smoke detectors, he is disturbed by smoke detectors that did not work.

“We saw enough smoke detectors in apartment units that weren’t working—either the batteries were run down or not replaced—that we were alarmed,” he said.

Nicklas said he encourages students to test their smoke detectors to make sure they are working properly because it is a landlord’s job to provide smoke detectors, but it is a tenant’s responsibility to maintain them.