There were no injuries from a grease fire Friday afternoon in La Broquerie. However, La Broquerie Fire Chief Alain Nadeau says it could have been much worse, especially considering the smoke alarm in that suite had been disconnected.

Firefighters were called to Evergreen Place shortly after twelve o'clock. Nadeau says it appears the tenant was getting ready to cook, then went to check on her pets in the basement and came up to find smoke and fire in the kitchen.

He gives a damage estimate of about $15,000, noting there is smoke damage and the furniture will probably need to be replaced.

The fire was contained to the one unit but Nadeau says there was the potential for it to spread rapidly throughout the 12 unit complex.

Nadeau says not only was the smoke alarm disconnected in this unit, but also in the neighbour's.

"We need to keep our smoke alarms connected," says Nadeau. "That's a life-saving thing there."

Nadeau says he is not sure if the tenants are disconnecting them because they are going off for no reason, but notes this will need to be addressed.

"You need to either move it or do something else," he says. "You can not disconnect your smoke alarms."

Nadeau guesses the suite will be uninhabitable for a few days.

Firefighters cleared the scene shortly after one o'clock. The Giroux tanker was called for backup.