City inspectors have declared a 12-unit apartment in Northeast Roanoke temporarily uninhabitable following a Thursday afternoon fire, officials said.

The blaze broke out at 4 p.m. at Hickory Wood Apartments in the 3000 block of Hickory Wood Drive, according to Roanoke Fire-EMS spokeswoman Tiffany Bradbury.

She said crews responded and found heavy smoke and flames coming out of a second floor apartment. The fire spread to a top floor apartment, but she said crews had it under control before it spread through the attic. Fire damage was contained to the second and third floor apartments.

Those apartments were unoccupied when the blaze started but a cat that lived in the apartment where the fire broke out was killed, Bradbury said.

A Roanoke city code enforcement team examined the structure and deemed it uninhabitable due to fire, smoke and water damage and some electrical problems. The cause and amount of damage has not been determined.

Bradbury said 16 people were displaced and were being assisted Thursday evening by the American Red Cross.

Daniel Olenjiczak, a firefighter from Buffalo, N.Y., was visiting his stepdaughter and her boyfriend when the fire started. Olenjiczak smelled smoke and had his wife call 911 while he knocked on the doors of the neighbors and told them about the blaze.

neil.harvey@roanoke.com 981-3349 colleen.evans@roanoke.com 777-3521