Officials say at least a dozen people are displaced after a fire broke out Thursday night in Mount Vernon.

Investigators say the flames sparked inside a three story multi-family home on 210 South 5th Ave. around 10 p.m. They say the fire started in the bedroom of a first-floor apartment because of a lit cigarette. 

"One of the occupants was smoking in bed and fell asleep," says Mount Vernon Fire Department Deputy Chief Michael Corrado. "The fire spread to the mattress and the contents of the room." 

Officials say the flames were quickly extinguished and were to contained to just the one bedroom. They say 13 people were evacuated from the complex.

The Red Cross and Mount Vernon's Emergency Management are providing emergency financial assistance for families displaced by the fire to get a hotel and buy food. 

"It's very shocking," says Sandy Simpson, of Mount Vernon. "When I was upstairs I thought the fire was going to spread and I went outside my apartment and saw it was not that bad."

Police say no one was injured.