Residents of an East Vancouver apartment started a small kitchen fire Sunday morning, panicked, and tried to deal with it themselves by throwing burning debris out of their window.

Vancouver firefighters arrived at the apartments on Triumph Street to find two fires burning—one in the unit and one outside the building from the debris being tossed out.

"Unfortunately, everything that the tenants did made the situation worse today," battalion chief Kevin Wilson said. "The people were trying to deal with the fire themselves and they had a massive amount of smoke."

The fire had spread from the kitchen to a wall by the time fire crews arrived, but they were able to put it out quickly.

The two occupants of the apartment were sent to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation. The other residents of the building also had to be evacuated while crews cleared smoke from the structure.

Wilson wanted to remind people that it's best to let the professionals handle a fire in your home – and not to try and put it out by yourself.

"Call for assistance with the fire department as soon as possible," he said. "Try to remain calm and exit the building."