By Jennifer Glickel and Michael Ventura
DNAinfo Staff
EAST VILLAGE — Flames shot out the windows of an East Village apartment after a fire broke out Thursday morning and briefly sent some residents out into the street.
The one-alarm blaze started in an apartment on the sixth floor of an 11-story building at East 4th Street and Avenue A. The FDNY got the call at about 8:07 a.m.
Fire officials on the scene said they arrived to see flames blowing out three windows of the corner apartment. Firefighters battled the blaze from inside the building — water was seen shooting out windows and onto the street. It took firefighters roughly an hour to get the fire under control, officials said.
FDNY officials said a couple lived in the apartment. No one was injured, but the apartment was completely destroyed, fire officials said.
Some residents left the building when they smelled smoke in their apartments.
"I said, I'm not getting up for another fire alarm, but then I smelled smoke and it was thick so we left," said Suzanne Paige, 42, who lives on the same floor as the charred apartment. "We came outside and saw flames billowing out the windows."
It wasn't immediately clear what caused the fire, officials said. An investigation is ongoing.