No one was injured in a fifth-floor fire at College Manor Apartments that led police to block off parts of Southwest Second Avenue on Monday.
Residents of the fourth and fifth floors were evacuated, and apartment maintenance workers put out the flames with a fire extinguisher before rescue workers arrived around 4:30 p.m.
Three Gainesville Fire Rescue trucks arrived at the apartment complex at 1216 SW Second Ave.
The fire, located in apartment 146, did not spread to any other units, said District Fire Chief Jeff Lane.
Lane said the fire was probably caused by discarded cigarette butts in a trash bag in the kitchen.
No one was home at the time, and most of the residents' belongings were destroyed, he said.
"But we did save their pit bull, Deuce," Lane said.
Neighbor Patricia Lopez, who sat outside the building holding her passport and purse, said she called police after she saw smoke seeping under the door.
Lopez's husband, Ronald Gonzalez, who was seated next to her outside the building with their laptop and family documents, said they grabbed everything they could before leaving.
Residents were told to return to their apartments at 5 p.m.
