Fire alarms sounded at about 4:30 a.m. at the residence on 250 St. Raymond Blvd.
A number of residents were temporarily moved for security reasons and may be displaced for a few days, officials say.
There were no injuries. First indications were the fire may have been caused by smoking materials.
Emergency crews responded to a report of smoke coming from a suite on the fourth floor just after 4 p.m.
Upon arrival, crews confirmed that the fire had been extinguished by the sprinkler system.
But there is extensive water damage in parts of the building.
Fire officials say no one should be displaced because there are empty units that can be used to house those affected.
There is no word yet on what caused the fire and there were no reports of any injuries.
“The fire marshal is still investigating the cause,” Sharkey said.
He said the fire was isolated to the corner kitchen island.
“The sprinkler system did a good job in containing the fire,” he said.
Three windows were broken out to ventilate the fire and smoke.
“Smoke had banked down to about a foot off the ground,” he said.
The fire was knocked down within five minutes, he said.
“The neighbor called it in,” he said.
The entire 500 building — 18 apartments in all — were evacuated.
