Saint John firefighters battled an early morning apartment fire on the city’s lower west side.

Six crews were called to a three-storey building on St. John Street around 2:10 a.m. Thursday.

Platoon Chief Craig Melvin said crews were met with fire and smoke inside of the building.

“The crews knocked it down fairly quickly, did a search of the building, didn’t find any residents, and everybody made it out safe,” Melvin said in an interview.

Melvin said the blaze broke out in the kitchen of a basement apartment in the building.

He said residents in that unit have been displaced, while others will be allowed to return home.