ROCKLAND – More than 40 elderly or disabled residents were evacuated from their apartments early Friday when a fire broke out in a laundry room at the Methodist Conference Home on Summer Street.

The State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the 1:20 a.m. fire, which started in a fan inside the laundry room of the four-story apartment complex, fire Lt. Mikial Mazzeo said Friday.

Three residents were taken to Penobscot Bay Medical Center in Rockport for stress and anxiety-related conditions, he said, but there were no smoke or fire injuries.

Forty-three people were moved to a common area on the ground floor, he said.

The fire, which created a lot of smoke, was in a laundry room on the second floor and was quickly extinguished by a sprinkler system.

Executive Director Lee Karker said Friday that all residents were back in their rooms. The building was still being dried out from sprinkler system water, he said.

The kitchen at the housing complex could not be used Friday, he said, and food from the Meals on Wheels program at the Bartlett House was sent to the Methodist Conference Home.

About a year ago, MCH installed a sprinkler system, Mazzeo said, adding, “that kept this fire from being very significant. This could have been a bad morning.”

The three-alarm fire drew firefighters and equipment from Thomaston and South Thomaston.

More than 20 firefighters responded to the call and were assisted by Rockland police in shuffling residents from their apartments to the first floor common area. Fire crews cleared the scene by 5:30 a.m.

“We were prepared to send them to hotels if necessary,” Mazzeo said, noting the American Red Cross had secured rooms at the Trade Winds Motor Inn. Eventually, residents returned to their apartments, he said.