Firefighters are investigating a blaze that damaged a Marshall County apartment Tuesday morning.

Fork Ridge Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief Paul McCartney said the owner of the Rustic Hills Apartment Complex building that caught fire claimed power was supposed to be off at the apartment.

American Electric Power officials said that was not the case, however.

McCartney said the fire is believed to have started in the basement of apartment 12, shortly after 9 a.m., when a vacuum cleaner plugged into an outlet sparked, catching the basement carpet on fire.

He said the fire was contained to that room, which sustained smoke and water damage.

No one was home at the time, McCartney said, noting that a neighbor saw smoke coming from the apartment and quickly alerted firefighters.

At the time, the residents were in the process of moving out, McCartney said, adding the owner of the apartment claimed American Electric Power was supposed to turn off power to the apartment.

AEP spokeswoman Carmen Prati-Miller said McCartney is correct in that power was on at the apartment, but said AEP did not make a mistake.

She said that, earlier this month, the owner filled out a request to have the meter connected for Tuesday, which employees did Monday.

"We actually connected it at the customer's request," Prati-Miller said. "We just did what we always do."

Additionally, McCartney was grateful for "an abundant supply" of water from the Marshall County Public Service District 4, adding that, if all of that water was not available to firefighters, the fire could have quickly spread due to the construction of the apartments.

"Those apartments, up in the roof, have no fire barriers......so the fire would have spread to the other apartments," McCartney said.

In addition to Fork Ridge, responding units came from Washington Lands, Moundsville and Cameron fire departments, McCartney said.