Firefighters rescue residents from apartment fire in Hoffman Estates Tuesday morning

Firefighters rescued several residents of a Hoffman Estates apartment complex after an early Tuesday morning fire left a dozen units uninhabitable.

Three people were transported to a nearby hospital and a fourth person drove there, fire officials said. All four were treated and released later in the day. No other injuries were reported.

Firefighters were alerted by an automatic fire alarm inside the three-story building on the 1000 block of Atlantic Avenue at about 6:10 a.m.

Fire and smoke was visible from the second floor and spreading.

Firefighters used multiple ladder trucks to rescue residents from the upper floors of the complex.

It took nearly two hours to extinguish the blaze, fire officials said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. No damage estimate was available.