Filed at 08:27 PM

A room in an apartment complex on South Aurora Street caught fire this afternoon, according to officials from the Ithaca Fire Department, causing them to block off several blocks of South Aurora, Prospect and Pleasant streets for several hours.

 

Assistant Chief Daniel Tier III said the fire was located on 313 South Aurora St. after a neighbor called when he noticed smoke in his apartment next door.

 

Tier said windows were shattered, and there was fire and smoke coming from a third story window when officials arrived on the scene and contained the flames. He said no one was injured in the fire.

 

Tier said his team is investigating a possible power surge as the cause of the fire.

 

"We've had about a dozen complaints from houses in this area," Tier said.

 

Assistant Chief Mike Schnurle said the roads reopened at 9 p.m. He said investigators and the New York State Electric and Gas Company are still on the scene.

 

Ed Cope, the owner of the apartment complex, said officials told him they had to cut the power to surrounding homes to be safe.

 

Federro Gonzalez, a senior at Cornell University who lives on the first floor of the apartment building, said his roommate and neighbors had been experiencing electrical problems recently.

 

"Things like light bulbs going out, and even blackouts on the entire street," Gonzalez said. "Before I saw  [the smoke], I heard the TV pop."

 

Senior Thomas Muscara, who lives at 309 Aurora St., said before he saw the smoke in his apartment, he heard his microwave, television and stereo make strange popping noises.

 

Muscara said he called 911 when he entered his roommate's bedroom and found it filled with smoke.

 

Schnurle said 12 occupants have been displaced from the building but he could not release their names. The Red Cross is currently helping them find shelter.