Chyanne Felix and her 5-year-old brother, Marquez, watched in wonderment Wednesday morning as fire burned through the windows and roof of their Kimberly Drive apartment.

Chyanne, 6, just wanted to be sure the flames wouldn’t spoil her summer fun by destroying her bicycle. Marquez seemed to be comfortable in an oversized black T-shirt and black socks, some of the only clothing items left after the fire.

“Everything in my apartment is gone,” said Mike Felix, the children’s father. “My kids have no clothes, I have no clothes. Nothing’s left.”

The Felixes were one of several families who lined the 900 block of Kimberly Drive after 11 a.m. Wednesday, waiting for firefighters to salvage what was left of apartment walls and family belongings. The fire, which began in the Felixs’ apartment, was controlled in 25 minutes, but more than $115,000 worth of damage has left tenants looking for temporary shelter.

Felix said he was playing with his three children in the living room when he smelled smoke coming from 16-month-old T.J.’s bedroom. He blames a possible heater malfunction for the fire. However, firefighters cited the cause as “children playing with a lighter in the bedroom” after about four hours of investigation at the scene.

Assistant DeKalb Fire Chief Dennis Votaw said the 911 call originally cited a mattress fire. Flames already had broken through the front window when engines arrived. Most of the tenants had been evacuated, and no injuries were reported.

Tenants Teri Bigham and Laura Petryka live next to the Felix apartment and helped evacuate most of the other tenants from the building. They had just moved in April 10.

“I smelled smoke, so we got out and knocked on all the other doors,” Bigham said. “There was an alarm that went off, but not everyone could hear it.”

Felix said the most disturbing part of the situation is that none of the three fire extinguishers he attempted to use worked.

“I ran and got bucket after bucket of water to try and put the fire out,” Felix said. “If one of those fire extinguishers would have worked, I could have put the fire out.”

Tenants said the building is privately owned by David Cudden, of A&D Property Management. Cudden was unavailable for comment late Wednesday.