Students and residents of University Apartments, off of Avent Ferry Road, poured out into the street after a kitchen fire forced the evacuation of the apartment Tuesday evening.

The fire burnt the interior of the home of one family — a man, woman and their two children — but according to Bob Dascombe, part owner of the complex, the fire was limited to one unit.

“You hate for this kind of thing to happen, but we’re thankful that no one was hurt,” Dascombe said.

Kevin Chamberlain, a sophomore in nutrition science, lives two doors down from where the fire started and said he was awakened by the trucks around 7:30 p.m.

“I heard the noise and the lights flashing, so I came outside. Then they told me I can’t get back in,” Chamberlain said, pointing to the yellow caution tape surrounding the apartment.

David Webber and Jennifer McCraw, both doctoral students in mechanical engineering, live down the street from the building that caught fire. Webber said he heard the sirens and came to see what was happening.

“We weren’t sure what was going on — we just saw the smoke and came out,” Webber said.

According to Diane Stephenson, the other part owner of the building, the family had just moved into the apartment last Wednesday.

A neighbor called Stephenson about the fire, and she and Dascombe came out to see what happened.

“It was a multi-tenant building, so there could have been a lot of other apartments affected,” Dascombe said. “Luckily, the fire department was quick to respond and took care of things.”