Resident alerts neighbors of overnight apartment fire in Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE -- A peaceful night of sleep quickly turned into panic for residents of an apartment near Atkinson and Capitol overnight.

Fire broke out in the 8-unit building just after 3:30 a.m. Thursday and 18 people have been displaced.

Robert Shields, resident and building manager for the property, went door to door to wake everyone up and get them out after he was awaken by heavy smoke.

\"I grabbed a fire extinguisher and tried to put it (fire) out. it went out but flared back up,\" Shields said. So I put the extinguisher down and went to each house, getting everybody up.\"

Officials say they did not hear working smoke detectors when they arrived on scene. 

No one was injured and there's no immediate word on a cause.