Eighty-year-old Irving Sisson was inside his southwest Houston apartment talking with a computer repairman when the smoke alarm on the fifth floor sounded Monday morning.

His first move to escape started at his front door at the Bellerive, in the 7200 block of Bellerive, but it was too late.

"We opened the door and there was nothing but smoke," he said, "so we slammed it shut again."

While Sisson and the computer technician ultimately had to break out a window and await the help of a ladder truck from the Houston Fire Department, most residents at the complex for elderly and disabled people managed to escape the fire and dense smoke using the stairways. Neighbors or emergency workers helped residents who used wheelchairs and walkers.

"This one was more difficult (to battle) because fighting the fire was the second choice," said HFD District Chief Tommy Dowdy. "Get the people was first."

No deaths were reported, but three residents were sent to Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital. Two were released later Monday. One was transferred to another hospital. Twelve others were treated at the scene.