AUBURN — A fire broke out early Tuesday morning at 48 Academy St., burning out the second floor. Neighbors said the occupants of the upstairs apartment weren’t home when the fire started.

According to Chief Wayne Werts of the Auburn Fire Department, the fire was reported at 12:46 a.m. Werts said responding firefighters extingiushed the blaze within 20 minutes, and began searching the second floor. No one was found inside. Werts said a woman who approached the burning building panicked and was brought to the hospital, but said he didn’t know if it was related to the fire.

Two residents of the building waiting outside said they didn’t know how the fire started. “We just started smelling smoke,” said Abur Chol, 13. His sister, Achol Chol, 18, said she didn’t think the neighbors whose apartment burned were home, and that their car wasn’t there.

Abur and Achol’s cousin, Akuar Chan, 16 of Lewiston, was also with them. She had been staying over for the night.

The fire was still under investigation early Tuesday morning.

Abur Chol, 13 and his sister Achol Chol, 18, center, talk with their cousin Akuar Chan, 16 of Lewiston, who was staying with the family at their home 48 Academy Street in Auburn when a fire broke out early Tuesday morning, forcing them to flee.

An unidentified Auburn firefighter, top right, checks the ceiling for fire at an early morning fire on Academy Street in Auburn Tuesday morning.