INDIANAPOLIS -- Police are looking for three men who were seen leaving the scene of a fire that gutted an apartment building on Indianapolis' northeast side early Saturday morning.

The fire began just before 1 a.m. at the Farmington Lake apartments, near 38th Street and Franklin Road, just east of Interstate 465.

Firefighters battled the blaze for about three hours, but the building was destroyed, causing about $1 million in damage, Indianapolis fire Battalion Chief John Walker said.

Indianapolis fire Capt. Rita Burris said the three men left about 20 minutes before the fire began in a dark blue Chevrolet Malibu or Honda sedan with a white or gray right front quarter panel.

The fire, which left about two dozen people without homes, was the second in a week at the apartment complex, which has 21 buildings and about 250 residents.

"Firefighters … narrowly escaped injury when the third floor collapsed into the second floor, and that mess collapsed into the basement level," Burris said.

People who live on the third floor evacuated through a window to a fire ladder, including a man, a woman and their 2-week-old infant. No one was seriously injured.

"We basically wanted to get out of the house. That was the only thing we had on our mind, getting out of the house and make sure the baby was safe," said Deidra Campbell. "We tried to get out the front door. It was so smoky, and we couldn't get out. We had to come to the patio and yell for help"

Gas was cut off to the entire complex because of a leak at the building that burned.

Burris said that resident Sandra Strange told investigators that the building had working smoke alarms but that she didn't hear them before the blaze.

Several families were displaced in a fire earlier in the week that started in a dryer, Burris said.

Police asked anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at 317-262-TIPS.