MANKATO — Five apartments in a Mankato house have been evacuated after a blaze that apparently started in a fireplace chimney.

One of the building’s residents said he smelled smoke from his third-floor apartment around 8 p.m. Thursday. He said he grabbed a fire extinguisher and tried spraying flames he believed were in the chimney. But he said a neighbor told him there was smoke coming out of the eaves so they alerted everyone else in the building.

Sgt. Jeff Knutson was one of the first police officers to arrive on the scene. He said everyone was able to get out of the house safely. He said it appeared firefighters were able to contain the blaze in the attic and third level of the house.