Eight families are looking for a place to stay after an apartment fire on Main Street destroyed one unit and damaged others Wednesday morning.

No one was home at the time in the Arbor Creek Apartments unit upstairs where the fire started, said Rockdale County Fire and Rescue Chief Dan Morgan.

A neighbor in the unit directly below heard the smoke detector going off and looked out the window. She saw puffs of smoke and called 911.

The fire had burned completely through the ceiling and roof by the time fire engines arrived. It was in the process of moving across the ceiling below the roof to other apartments but firefighters were able to cut it off before it spread further.

The fire damaged the apartment where it started and two apartments to the right. Other units sustained some smoke and water damage. Water and electricity have been cut off to the eight-unit building.

Morgan pointed out the role and importance of a working smoke detector.

"Even though no one was home, somebody heard a smoke detector," he said. "The smoke detector got us an early warning for the fire."