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HOUSTON — Arson is suspected in southeast Houston apartment fire that happened early Monday morning.

Investigators sent a K-9 unit through the Woodlen Place Apartments near Broadway and Rockhill but did not find a body.

Residents reported hearing gunshots just before it started.

Houston Fire Department officials suspect the fire, which started around 12:30 a.m., may have been intentionally set.

The flames ripped through the building’s attic and breezeway. Additional firefighters were called in to help with the rescue operation.

“It was amazing,” resident Dellaniece Snow said. “They were opening doors, getting people out all of the time, I mean if they didn’t call, they’d bang on the doors, open windows. I was so amazed; I really was. It was like en pointe.”

“Just a little smoke, and then all of a sudden, it just started pouring — a little bit more, a little bit more,” witness Corey Johnson said. “Then all of a sudden, on the other side, just a big puff came over.”

Firefighers said no injuries were reported, and they will continue to investigate what sparked the blaze.

In the end, 12 units were damaged.

The Red Cross was assisting families affected by the blaze.

It was the third apartment fire in the Houston area in four days.