CHAPEL HILL - The Chapel Hill Fire Department responded to an apartment complex fire at 918 Saluda Court, The Pointe at Chapel Hill, on Thursday.

The first unit on scene reported smoke from the 20 unit apartment building. A resident told firefighters that a pot of oil had caught fire on the stove. When the fire crew entered, it found a sprinkler head in the kitchen had extinguished the fire. The resident later reported that he had also used a fire extinguisher prior to exiting the residence.

Damage was limited to the stove and cabinets above it. Minimal smoke and water damage affected only the one apartment. The overall damage to the building, which is valued at nearly $4 million, is estimated at less than $5,000. No one was injured at the fire.

According to a 2006 report by the National Fire Protection Association the death rate per fire in sprinklered homes is 80 percentlower than that in properties without sprinkler protection.