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NORTH ATTLEBORO - Residents scrambled to escape from their downtown apartment building Saturday afternoon as flames and black smoke poured out of a second-floor unit, where a new alarm system had failed to warn them of the danger.

No one was injured in the two-alarm fire, which began around 3:30 p.m. in Apartment 203 at 130 North Washington St.

North Attleboro Fire Capt. Peter Cullen said at least two people were displaced by the damage, which he estimated to total about $50,000.

Residents of the building's 14 apartments speculated that the fire was started by an air-conditioning unit in the window of Apartment 203. Firefighters, who are continuing to investigate, said they could not confirm that.

Firefighters - working in muggy, 90-degree conditions - managed to keep the blaze from spreading beyond the single apartment. They were assisted by Plainville and North Cumberland firefighters. The number of emergency personnel on scene forced police to redirect traffic around the center of town. Cullen said it was a "godsend" that the Providence Canteen, an organization that supplies firefighters with coffee, water, and other supplies, came to the scene.

The residents described a chain of events that began with what sounded like an explosion, followed by the spread of strong, choking fumes throughout the building - but no alarm, other than a faint beeping that they said sounded muffled.

"There was a big boom," said Jennifer Signore, who lives diagonally above the apartment where the fire took place. Initially, Signore thought a car had driven into the side of the building, but then she looked out her third-floor window and saw the smoke wafting out of the room below.

"The smoke was just awful - the smell," said another resident, Cathy Eastwood, who has lived there for four years. "It was very, very scary."

Residents said they raced around the building, knocking on neighbor's doors to warn them to get out. One elderly man said he was asleep when the fire began, and did not realize there was a problem until he realized he could barely breathe from the smell.

The building's owner is Don McHoul, who also owns the Sperry & McHoul Funeral Home. A new fire alarm system was installed on Friday, McHoul said, to fix continuing problems with the old system.

But Signore said that the building's alarms still weren't ringing once she and the other residents had gathered outside in front of Richards Memorial Library, across the street from the building.

"It's frightening," she said.

"Thank God it was during the daytime," agreed another neighbor, Margaret Rose.

The apartment's occupant, Mike Levin, was working at his job at the nearby Hess gas station at the time of the fire. From the window he watched as fire engines and police officers descended on the neighborhood, until another resident of his building ran over to tell him that his room was burning. "My first thought was, 'Oh (expletive),' " Levin said. He had lived in the apartment for nearly five years, and he cried as he saw nearly all his belongings go up in flames.

Levin said he also thinks the air-conditioner is likely what caused the fire. A customer at the Hess station had given him the unit, Levin said, and he had left it running when he went to work at 2:30 p.m.

McHoul said that both the town wiring inspector and the man who installed the new alarm system would be coming to the building today to figure out what went wrong and ensure the problem gets fixed.

TED NESI can be reached at 508-236-0434 or at tnesi@thesunchronicle.com.