BRIDGEPORT — One person was injured and 13 people, including four children, were left homeless when fire heavily damaged an East End apartment building Sunday morning.

Fire officials said it appears a candle left unattended started the fire.

The fire broke out shortly after 7 a.m. in a three-story building in the 1300 block of Stratford Avenue. When firefighters arrived, flames were shooting out of the second-floor windows and the area was filled with heavy smoke.

Assistant Fire Chief Ismael Pomales said the fire started in a front bedroom on the second floor and spread to the third floor and along the eave of the roof. He said it was fortunate there were working smoke detectors in the building and everyone got out safely. The fire was brought under control in an hour.

Pomales said a female occupant of a second-floor apartment was questioned by the fire marshal at Bridgeport Hospital where she was being treated for smoke inhalation.

"Apparently she may have left a candle burning in her bedroom while she went to get a cup of coffee in the kitchen. When she came back, the room was ablaze," he said.

He said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Pomales said a first-floor liquor store had some smoke and water damage, and the fire heavily damaged one apartment on the second floor and one apartment on the third floor. The American Red Cross was relocating the occupants.