BRUNSWICK — Three people were hospitalized after a multiple-alarm fire broke out Wednesday night in a 12-unit apartment building at 84 Union St.

According to Deputy Fire Chief Jeff Emerson, the Fire Department received the initial call at 11:01 p.m., and the first responders found heavy smoke and fire coming from a rear apartment.

Emerson said they were able to keep the fire from spreading throughout the building and contained it to the apartment of origin and neighboring units. The rest of the building suffered water and smoke damage, he said.

The fire was under control and nearly extinguished by 12:30 a.m. Thursday, Emerson said.

He said firefighters rescued two people who were trapped on a back porch and three people were taken to the hospital, two for smoke inhalation and one with burns. WMTW-TV reported that the Midcoast Food Bank, just behind the building, opened its doors to the building’s 17 displaced residents.

“This one was a very serious fire due to the multiple occupancies of the building, the fact that it was residential and after hours,” Emerson said.

Chris Stanford, an investigator at the state fire marshal’s office, told WMTW that the fire was accidental and caused by food cooking on the stove that overheated and ignited.

Five local fire departments responded to the call: Bath, Topsham, Freeport, West Bath and Brunswick Naval Air Station.

Emily Guerin can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 123 or eguerin@theforecaster.net

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Residents watch early Thursday morning as firefighters extinguish the apartment house fire on Union Street in Brunswick.Margaret Burke of Brunswick walks down the stairs of her apartment on Thursday morning after salvaging some possessions from the aftermath of a fire that damaged the building at 84 Union St. on Wednesday night. Her husband, Danny Burke, was injured in the blaze and remained hospitalized on Thursday in Portland. “It was scary,” Burke said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen.”