DULUTH, Minn. — Fire at a downtown Duluth building that houses apartments and a bar sent residents scrambling to safety with firefighters carrying at least one man down a ladder from a third floor.

The owner of the Kozy Bar and Apartments says an automatic fire alarm that alerted the fire department probably saved some residents from serious injury. Eric Ringsred says the fire Monday night spread quickly through the building which includes 40 to 50 apartments on the upper floors. Fire officials estimated damage at about $500,000.

Residents Verleen Fulton and Rita Blevins tell the Duluth News Tribune they narrowly escaped the building after a neighbor pounded on their door. Blevins says she followed Fulton and jumped over a banister to safety. Both had singed hair from the fire.