Eight people on Sunday escaped an early-morning inferno on Long Island that left their home a charred mess.
Firefighters smashed into the home in Baldwin, where clouds of black smoke and fire engulfed the back part of the house and caused most of the porch roof to cave in.
The blaze, which originated on the first floor, sent flames pouring out of the windows and across the second story, melting the gray siding and shattering glass.
The eight people inside the building, all adults, were roused from their beds at around 4:30 a.m. by the clang of fire alarms, said Baldwin Fire Department Chief Karen Bendel.
Every one of them made it to safety on their own without injury.
“No injuries to us or civilians,” Bendel said.
She was the first to arrive at the y scene, and her department had to call for backup from several neighboring fire stations in the towns of North Hempstead, Oceanside and Freeport in order to extinguish the flames.
“[The fire] was going pretty good when we got there,” said Baldwin Assistant Fire Chief Frank Cesare.
The family that lived at the home was joined by a crowd of concerned neighbors, including one with a dog, who were awokened during the chaos. They watched as the smoke and flames spread along the gutters, charring them black, and then ignited the roof.
At one point, a panicked neighbor ran over to firefighters pointing to a room on the second floor and shouting that a woman slept there.
They assured her that everyone had gotten out safely before heading back in to battle the inferno.
The firefighters made their way through the first floor, chucking bits of debris out of shattered windows as they went.
In total, it took around 80 smoke eaters working three fire hoses for an hour to get the flames under control.
Investigators are still determining the cause of the fire, according to Bendel, who warned that a blaze like this “could happen to anyone at any time.”
Susan Bamman, a relative of the homeowners, said the family did not want to comment.