About a dozen Northwestern students were displaced Tuesday night when a fire broke out at their house, officials said.

No one was injured in the blaze. As of Tuesday night, it was unknown how the fire began, said Sgt. Steven Stoeckl of University Police.

The fire started around 7 p.m. on the top floor of a three-story house located at 718-720 Foster Ave., fire officials said.

Residents said firefighters had to cut through the second floor of the building to reach the third-story apartment. The third story was completely burned out.

Debris was thrown from a hacked-out window on the third floor. As of Tuesday night, the first floor had only suffered slight water damage, fire officials said.

Emergency workers blocked off the corners of Foster Street and Sherman Avenue and Foster and Orrington Avenue, Stoeckl said. An Emerson Street alley entrance also was monitored.

University officials and Evanston Police Department Chaplain Rabbi Dov Hillel Klein helped students arrange temporary lodgings and offered spiritual guidance.

Residents of the house likely will be able to retrieve essential belongings but were not allowed to stay there Tuesday night.

First-floor resident Ranjan Banerji, a learning sciences graduate student, was on the phone with his fiancee when he learned of the fire.

Voytek Lyszkiewicz, an economics graduate student and also a first-floor resident, knocked on the door and told Banerji to call 911. Lyszkiewicz was sitting outside when passers-by told him they saw flames coming from the house.

“I went inside to try to throw everyone out of the building,” said Lyszkiewicz, who is unsure of where he will stay now.

Resident Adam Adler, a Weinberg junior, got the bad news when his girlfriend, Rose Wu, called him. Wu had been napping at his house.

“At 7:05 there was just a little bit of smoke trickling out the window,” said Wu, a Weinberg junior. “Just a few minutes later there were huge orange flames.”

The fire and police departments, as well as NU administrators, soon were on the scene.

Ashes from the blaze swirled around on-lookers, who also were misted with water from the fire hoses. Firefighters were still battling hot spots at 9 p.m.

“Obviously, something like this is startling,” said Alan Cubbage, vice president for university relations.

“We are very fortunate that no one was hurt,” added Cubbage, especially in light of the fire Sunday at Ohio State University, which killed five students.

William Banis, vice president for student affairs, was at a panel discussion on suicide prevention when he was called to the scene.

“We came here to see if we could be of support to students,” Banis said.

The students also received comfort from friends and neighbors on the scene.

A third-floor resident who declined to speak to The Daily was surrounded by friends after she burst into tears upon seeing her home.

One onlooker, Communication sophomore Nat Cozinn, was shocked when he realized what was on fire.

“That’s my fucking apartment,” he yelled. Cozinn recently signed a lease, which begins in July. He said he hoped repairs would finished by then.