Boston firefighters quickly knocked down a small blaze in a Savin Hill apartment building next to the Boys and Girls Club on Monday afternoon.

Smoke poured from a second story apartment in 1129 Dorchester Ave. at about 1 p.m., Boston Fire Department officials said.

A stream of fire tucks and the emergency responder vehicles roared down the avenue on the Presidents' Day afternoon. Within about 20 minutes, the fire was out in the three-story structure.

The fire was contained to a second floor apartment and caused about $10,000 in damages, officials said. Nobody was home at the time of fire. National Grid will examine the electrical work inside. The cause of the fire was still to be determined just before 2 p.m.

Rosetta Jnofinn, 57, has been living there for just a year and was sleeping in her first floor apartment when the alarms started ringing.

“I opened my door, and then when I didn’t see anything and I went back in because the alarm always comes on for some little reason or whatever,” she said outside, bundled in a black parka and clutching her purse. “But then I heard people screaming, I opened the door again and then I said, “no, this is fire; something’s going on.” I got dressed, took my coat, and came out and saw the firemen.”

Jnofinn said she couldn’t find her cat — an indoor cat who usually travels in a pet carrier — before leaving the apartment. She walked across the street and called her sister, crying.

“I guess with the noise, she’s hiding somewhere,” Jnofinn said, as firefighters began returning to their engines.

One firefighter carried an empty aquarium tank from the tan brick building. Two iguanas were rescued from the apartment, fire officials said. Both iguanas have been relocated with a neighbor until the occupant of the apartment can be notified.

The alarms in the building go off sporadically, Jnofinn said. She has gotten into the habit of keeping all of her important documents, like her passport, with her when she leaves the house.

“I always say, “please God, protect my apartment,” because people are always burning something,” she said.