South King Fire and Rescue responded to an apartment fire that displaced nine residents and one dog at Club Palisades Apartments on Wednesday.

After returning home from an appointment, the residents were greeted with the sound of a fire alarm and smoke billowing out their front door.

They grabbed a fire extinguisher from the wall and tried to extinguish the blaze, however, Capt. Jeff Bellinghausen said South King Fire and Rescue “highly” discourages this action.

“Dry chemical fire extinguishers are designed to be used on a small fire that you can walk up to safely and use the extinguisher as protection as you are exiting the structure,” Bellinghausen said. “A fully-involved room fire that has been burning for an unknown amount of time should be left to the professional firefighters.”

One resident was treated at the hospital for smoke inhalation injuries. A total of four extinguishers were discharged.

The fire marshal determined that the cause of the fire was items stacked too close to a wall heater, Bellinghausen said. These items caught fire while no one was home. The fire spread through the room as smoke and heat clouded the apartment.

The residents of the damaged unit, as well as occupants of the unit directly above them, were referred to Red Cross for shelter. This included six adults, three children and one dog.

Bellinghausen said the apartment building is repairable and other nearby units were not affected.