Firefighters were investigating how a couch caught fire in an unoccupied Jackson Street apartment Thursday night.

The resident, who neighbors said is a single man, wasn’t at home at 306 N. Jackson St., Apt. 4, when the fire started shortly after 9 p.m., Salisbury Fire Battalion Chief Todd Overcash said.

Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze. They remained on the scene making sure fire hadn’t spread to the walls or attic and ventilating the apartment as neighbors, evacuated from their apartments, stood in the cold, damp night.

Neighbors didn’t know where the resident was. Overcash said the man wouldn’t be able to return to the apartment because of smoke damage. Fire officials planned to find the man and contact the Red Cross to help him.