Fire erupted at a three-story apartment building in Mt. Lebanon this evening, forcing out more than a dozen tenants, some of whom had to be evacuated by ladder after firefighters found them leaning out a third-floor window amid pouring smoke.

"It was pretty bad. People were hanging out the windows to get out," said George Nelson, a retired Dormont firefighter who assisted at the scene.

No injuries were reported and departments from Mt. Lebanon, Dormont and Bethel Park quickly extinguished the blaze at 270 Beverly Road. Witnesses said the blaze started in a second-floor kitchen and then spread.

The fire closed off the busy Beverly Road shopping district and backed up traffic in the area. The Salvation Army was called out to help the apartment dwellers unable to return to their homes.

Christen Hufnagel said she heard a building fire alarm, opened her back door to flee and found the hallway black with smoke.

"I got my phone and jumped out the back window onto the roof of the car port," she said.

Others had to take a longer route down.

"It was pitch black smoke. The stairways were full of smoke. We had to come down the ladder," said Bill Lawson, who, along with his wife, was helped to the ground by a ladder team from Mt. Lebanon.

Mr. Lawson, a contractor, said the trip struck him as uneventful.

"I spend pretty much all day on ladders," he said.