Just after 9 a.m. Tuesday, a structural fire erupted at a College Square apartment building, 832 Ridge Drive, causing Ridge Drive to be shut down for several hours at Normal Road.

DeKalb Fire Chief Lanny Russell said the blaze started on the third floor in one of the apartment bathrooms.

The DeKalb Fire Department controlled the blaze in less than 15 minutes. No injuries were reported, Russell said.

Russell also said that it didn’t spread very far.

“As far as I know, it was confined to the room of origin,” he said.

No one was home at the time of the blaze.

In addition to the actual fire damage, smoke and water damage is likely, Russell said.

College Square resident Nicole Berryhill said she had no idea what was going on when the alarm went off.

“When I came home, everything looked pretty normal,” Berryhill said. “I came in from class and was in my house for about 10 minutes when the fire alarm went off.”

Nelson Reuben, assistant fire chief for the DeKalb Fire Department, said that containment of the fire was not a problem.

“From what I could tell, it was a fairly quick extinguishment. Most of the damage was to the one room in the apartment,” Reuben said.

While other residents in the building were able to return to their apartments several hours after the fire, the tenants in the torched apartment had to relocate.

“That apartment is going to be uninhabitable for awhile,” Reuben said. “They will have to isolate that apartment from the rest of the building so they can get in there and work.”

David Faron, a tenant in the building, said the response from the firefighters was impressive.

“The fire alarm was going off and we got out when the guy said we needed to evacuate,” Faron said. “It was extremely fast. [The firefighters] were here before I actually came out.”

Kellie Leake, a tenant in the building, lives across the hall from the apartment that was on fire.

“I smelled smoke, and the hallway, as soon as I opened the door, was full of it,” Leake said. “When I smelled it, I opened the door. That’s when the electrician was banging on the doors so people could get out.”

Syd Stratton, the purchasing manager for College Square Apartments, said the main things that would need to be replaced would be the drywall and carpet in the apartment.

“It looks a little worse than it is,” Stratton said. “It’s minimal damage.”

Stratton also said the fire department handled the blaze in a swift, professional matter.

The building’s heat was turned on yesterday, and tenants were issued do’s and don’ts in regard to the heating system in the building.

“What I would imagine was that is was something laying against the base board heater,” Stratton said.

Stratton said that the damage to the apartment was minimal.

The DeKalb Fire Department estimated damages at $15,000.