The cause of the fire is still under investigation, and five other apartments in the Juniper Square Apartment complex also suffered damages, mostly caused by water. Three pumper trucks and two ladder trucks responded to the Juniper Street location around 3 a.m.

The damage was mostly confined to the second floor of building 1331, according to the Battalion Chief.

Arturo Ramirez and his family live directly below the burned apartments and he said he was lucky his home was not affected.

"Everybody came outside," he said, describing the scene. "I was outside one hour."

A Christmas tree and stockings were visible through the Ramirez family's front window Monday evening as charred furniture, notebooks and a child's bookbag from their neighbors upstairs lay outside on the ground.

Yellow caution tape covered the staircase leading to the second floor. A burned vacuum cleaner, water bottles, coloring books and other unidentifiable items were scattered across the ground below.

Another fire broke out at a house on 42 Citation Dr in southwest Durham. No injuries reported.