LEWISTON — Tenants were rousted from their homes when fire tore through a four-story apartment house on Birch Street early Tuesday night.

There were no reports of injuries and officials said it was too early to determine a cause as firefighters continued battling the blaze late into the night.

It was unclear how many people lived in the 17-unit building, which was a total loss.

At around 7:13 p.m. crews were called to a report of flames showing in the back of 101 Birch St. Upon arrival, the rear of the building and two porches were fully engulfed ans flames rolled up over the roof of the building.

Lewiston and Auburn firefighters immediately began battling the blaze as people fled the building. Lewiston police officers held back the tenants and onlookers as more and more firefighters arrived.

“I only got one person to come to the door,” Amy Britton, who lives on Bartlett Street across from the apartment house, said. “It went quick.”

Britton said she saw smoke and then orange from the flames on the second story porch and ran across the street to bang on doors and rouse tenants.

“All of a sudden, my kitchen was glowing orange!” she said.

Flames jumped from the roof as a ladder truck directed a blast of water to the fully engulfed porches. Another ladder was set up on Bartlett Street, directing a deluge onto the roof and fourth floor.

“I was just coming home and saw flames,” Melissa Brann said, trying to hold back tears. She watched the crews work on the building but her mind was on her pets.

“I don’t care if it burns — I just want my cats,” she said.

On the street, children played, people held up phones to take pictures, while others huddled and speculated. Frustration on the street boiled over as tenants remembered the fires of last year. Some blamed drugs, others smoking and others the landlords for the fire.

The Red Cross arrived quickly, trying to assess who in the growing crowd would need their services as Central Maine Power cut electricity to the building.

Just before 8 p.m., flames came through the front of the roof line — just a little at first — then as firefighters cut into the fascia of the roof, flames rapidly extended along the roofline.

Officer Cadet Norbet Janik, who is training with the Auburn Fire Department from his native Poland, stuck close with his team as more hoses covered the street.

Police and public works crews struggled to close down traffic along Bartlett and Birch streets as the area filled with fire crews and onlookers.

Lewiston Fire Department was assisted by Auburn, Lisbon, Sabattus, Greene and Topsham.

Fire Investigator Paul Ouellette was on scene to begin the search for a cause.

The arson fires that tore through Lewiston in April and May of 2013 were fresh on the minds of most spectators.

In all, nine buildings were lost in that eight-week period. All were set. And to date, two individuals, one teen and one adult, have had to face charges.

The fires that made downtown smell like a burnt, toxic stew with each rain and drew numerous calls to the Fire Department every time a grill was lit, still weighs heavy on the minds of those who still live here.

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