Residents who were displaced after a Frederiksen Court fire last week will be able to move back in as soon as their apartments are restored.

An accidental stove fire forced four male residents out of 1226 Frederiksen Court and four female residents out of 1216 just after midnight on Aug. 20.

The fire was contained to the stove and no one was hurt, said Kate Bruns, communications specialist for the Department of Residence.

“Because the sprinklers went off, there’s smoke and water damage and the residents have been temporarily relocated,” Bruns said. “The residents will be able to move back in once their apartments are restored to regular condition.”

Crystal Montoya, resident of 1216 Frederiksen Court, said she and her roommates evacuated the residence when the sprinklers went off.

“The police and firemen wanted to check our apartment for damage since we were directly below the fire,” said Montoya, sophomore in physics. “When we got back, the paint was bubbling up and the ceiling and floors were flooded.”

It could have been much worse, she said.

“We were lucky because only two of us had fully moved in,” Montoya said. “The only things we had ruined were a roll of paper towels and a box of cereal.”

Lt. Mike Makelbust, of the Ames Fire Department, responded to the fire. He estimated $10,000 in damage to the two apartments, but said the sprinkler system did its job.

“People freak out about water damage but fire damage would have done a lot more to contents,” Makelbust said.

Montoya and her roommates were allowed to leave some possessions at their apartment and they have been relocated to another Frederiksen Court apartment until the damage is fixed.

The carpet must be dried out and ceilings repainted before they are allowed to return, Montoya said. It was originally thought dry wall in the apartment would also need to be replaced but it was determined unnecessary.

“We have no idea when we’ll be able to move back in,” Montoya said. “They told us a few weeks but it may take a few months to fix everything.”

Makelbust said the apartment was not occupied.

“[The resident] was in the process of moving in and two of the burners on the electric stove were inadvertently turned on,” Makelbust said. Items temporarily set on the stove caught fire before they could be placed in their appropriate cabinet.

Makelbust said the resident of 1226 moving in at the time was not named in the report. The Department of Residence did not release his name.