For the second time in less than a year, a Marvin Gardens apartment was gutted by a fire after flames in the kitchen spread through the residence on South Pugh Street early yesterday morning.

Residents of apartment 31 will be unable to return to their home, 1010 S. Pugh St., for the considerable future, said Matt Rupert, a maintenance worker for Hendricks/Tabolsky Investments.

The apartment complex is a mix of students, couples and families, many of whom like the area for its pet-friendly atmosphere, Shannon Aucutt, a resident of the complex, said.

The State College Police Department and Alpha Fire Co. responded at 4:40 a.m. yesterday to the scene. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, Assistant Fire Chief Steve Triebold said.

Triebold said two individuals were evacuated from apartment 31, as well as other building residents. He could not confirm that a child lived in the damaged apartment.

The fire was contained within 20 minutes, though there was significant damage to the apartment and smoke damage to adjacent residences, Triebold added.

Yesterday's fire was the complex's second incident this year. Apartment 13 in Marvin Gardens caught fire March 28 after a resident said he fell asleep on his couch with a lit cigarette in his hand. The fire was ruled accidental, and no injuries were reported.

Replaced smoke detectors and discarded boxes were lying outside a few residences in the building yesterday. Aucutt said maintenance workers brought new detectors of the same model after the fire to replace old ones in each apartment.

It was not clear if the detectors in apartment 31 were working.

The kitchen and living room of the apartment stood black and charred yesterday afternoon, although the fish tank in one corner stood intact with its inhabitant still alive. The back bedroom, bathroom and office suffered significant smoke damage.

The Red Cross is assisting the residents of the apartment, Triebold said.

Rupert said the residents of the destroyed apartment would be responsible for paying for the fire damages if they do not have renter's insurance. The landlord is not accountable for any act of nature.

The apartment next door suffered some smoke damage. The residents of that apartment will also be responsible for payment, he said.

Aucutt said she was awoken by her cat and heard the sirens early in the morning. Within a few minutes, she and the rest of the complex were evacuated, she said.

A CATA bus arrived within 30 minutes to keep residents and their pets warm, she said.

"I was very impressed by how organized the whole thing was," she said.

Residents were allowed back into their buildings around 7:15 a.m., she said, though few were in their apartments last night.

The landlord of Marvin Gardens is Rodney Hendricks, who is also the landlord of now-demolished 500 E. Beaver Ave., where Penn State student Christopher Raspanti died in 2005 during a fire allegedly caused by faulty electrical wiring. Hendricks is being sued for wrongful death due to allegations that the building was not equipped with adequate safety features or exit routes.

He could not be reached for comment by press time yesterday.