Firefighters believe a cooking source was to blame for a late morning fire that ripped through an Osgood Street apartment yesterday.

Everyone was out of the house and no one was injured when fire broke out on the top floor of a three-family home at 84 Osgood St. around 11:30 a.m.

Capt. Kevin Loughlin said the fire started in the kitchen from a cooking source but he could not be more specific due to an ongoing investigation. The fire is not believed to be suspicious, he added.

Firefighters quickly knocked down the blaze and contained the bulk of the damage to the kitchen on the top floor of the 2 1/2-story building, Loughlin said.

Flames were coming out the kitchen window when firefighters arrived. Crews, both on the ground and using an aerial ladder, brought it under control in about 20 minutes, Loughlin said.

Nearby resident Alberto Ortiz said his niece lives in the building, which, according to city records, is valued at approximately $311,300. Ortiz rushed over to the burning home, quickly removing his niece's dog, a German shepherd named Shakira, from her kennel outside.

About two dozen onlookers gathered at the intersection of Osgood and Farnham streets as Ortiz walked Shakira, 2, down the sidewalk to a waiting van."I knew she wasn't home and I live right up the street," said Ortiz, of 95 Brookfield St.

The American Red Cross responded to the scene to supply water to the firefighters and to help any displaced tenants, Loughlin said.