LEWISTON – Police went door to door at a Lisbon Street apartment building late Monday night after smoke was seen rolling from the eaves of the three-story structure.

The 10:45 p.m. fire at 700 Lisbon St. rousted approximately a dozen people from apartments as police cleared the building.

Nobody was hurt in the blaze but several families, including five children, were displaced by the fire.

Lewiston police Sgt. Danny LaChance and officer Bill Rousseau went from one floor to the next, knocking on doors and forcing them open to alert residents to the fire.

“We got everybody out of there,” LaChance said. “All the adults, all the children and all the pets.”

LaChance said four or five dogs were brought to safety as fire crews rushed to the third floor of the building and began searching for the source of the smoke.

Firefighters pulled down ceiling tiles in a third-floor apartment, attacking flames between the ceiling and the roof.

“When I got here, there was a pretty good amount of smoke,” said Joe Hiscock, who lives nearby. “I didn’t see any flames coming up. The firefighters got to it pretty quick.”

The building houses the Lewiston Redemption & Discount Beverage on the ground floor and four or five apartments above. Business owner Sam Sylvia was called to the scene.

By 11:30 p.m., fire crews were still ripping into the ceiling and roof of the building, checking for flames and trying to determine where the smoke was coming from. There was no immediate word on the cause.

It was expected that firefighters would remain at the scene into this morning. The building occupants were not expected to return to their homes Monday night, and it was not known how long they might be displaced.

Police and fire crews were first alerted to the fire when a man driving down Lisbon Street called 911 to report smoke pouring from the top of the building, which is located between Adams and Androscoggin avenues. Fire officials called the Red Cross for assistance just before midnight.