Two Dorchester residents were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation after a three-alarm fire trapped them inside a six-family apartment building on Everett Avenue Sunday evening.

The blaze started in the basement of 5 Everett Ave. at about 4:15 p.m., and raced through the walls to engulf the building in minutes, according to Boston Fire Department Deputy Chief Jay Fleming.

The fire went to three alarms very quickly, said Fleming, because firefighters were busy racing against the flames to search the apartments for victims and they needed as much manpower as possible.

Two people, a man and a woman, were rescued from the third floor and taken to the hospital “in reasonably good condition,” Fleming said.

The fire displaced 14 adults, including the two taken to the hospital, and two children, said Fleming, and the Red Cross was assisting them.

A dog was also rescued.

Officials estimated about $500,000 worth of property damage. The fire did not appear suspicious, Fleming said.

Residents said the fire moved so fast they could not tell whether it was coming from the floor or ceiling.

“I don’t know if it was coming through the walls, I have absolutely no idea,” said Reyna Tejeda, 24, who lived on the first floor.

“I don’t know if it was from down-up, or up-down. I have no idea.”

The building did have working smoke alarms, which residents said they heard ringing.

Officials said the building in Sunday’s fire is attached to another six-family building that had a multialarm fire about a year ago.

That building has been vacant and boarded since then.