A fire late Sunday night at 825 W. Third St. caused extensive damage to this apartment's kitchen. PHIL HOLMES/Sun-Gazette

A woman who fell asleep in her West Third Street apartment was awakened just in time by a blaring smoke alarm late Sunday night when a fire erupted in her kitchen, city fire Platoon Chief Sam Aungst said.

NIkkia Scott safely escaped her apartment at 825 W. Third St. when the fire broke out about 11:30 p.m., Aungst said.

Her roommate, Tiffany Travers, was not home, he said.

Unattended cooking has been ruled the cause of the accidental fire.

Fire Lt. Kenny Smith said light smoke was coming from the back of the apartment when firefighters arrived on the scene.

The fire was extinguished in about 15 minutes, but not before an estimated $15,000 damage was done, Aungst said.

The local chapter of the American Red Cross was proving emergency assistance to the two women, who did not have renters’ insurance to cover the damage to their possessions, Aungst said.

The smoke alarm saved Scott’s life and got firefighters to the scene in time to prevent the fire from causing more serious damage, Aungst said.

The working smoke alarm averted a tragedy from happening just days before Christmas, he said.

There are three other apartments in the building, but tenants to those units were allowed back in after the fire was extinguished.

The fire damage was confined to the one apartment, Smith said.

This was the second kitchen fire in the city in 12 hours.

Maple Powell suffered burns late Sunday morning when she attempted to remove a burning pan from her stove at the Grier Street Manor

Apartments at 1145 Chester St. about 11:15 a.m, Aungst said. She was treated at UPMC Williamsport.

Like West Third Street, this fire also was caused by unattended cooking, but in this case, the heat and smoke activated the apartment’s sprinkler system which put the fire out before firefighters arrived.

There was no fire damage just water damage to the one unit, officials said.

Following these two fires, Aungst urges residents not to leave the kitchen whenever cooking items on the stove.

“If you feel tired, don’t turn the stove on for any reason,” he said.

When cooking on the stove, make sure you are turning on and off the correct burner, Aungst said.

“Don’t use your oven as a source to heat your home,” he said, adding that there are various resources people can tap into if they need help paying their heat bill.