Five kids and five adults escaped with their lives Saturday night as they raced out of their New Haven home.
Scorch marks climb the multi-family home on Hobart Street as the people who lived there stood by watching firefighters work.
"I looked across the street and saw the flames blowing out of the windows over there," said neighbor Stephani Johnson. "It was scary. It was scary."
New Haven Fire Chief Michael Grant says the firefight was labor intensive and even after it was under control, firefighters continued checking the building to make sure it wouldn't rekindle.
"The fire gets inside walls, and it requires you to rip open walls, rip open ceilings to expose the fire," said Grant.
Neighbors and relatives rushed to the scene to find out every person had made it out safely.
"I'm just in shock. That's all. I'm just in shock," said Brianna Cloud.
Cloud says she lives on the first floor where fire officials say it started.
"The smoke detector went off," said Cloud. "It was a fire from cooking. It was a fire, but everybody's fine. Everybody's okay."
Cloud says she and her two kids rushed out before the fire overwhelmed her home and made sure others got out too.
"I went in, knocked on their door, and told them to come out because my apartment was on fire," said Cloud.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation. While the fire chief says the home is not a total loss, it will be a while before anyone who lives there can head back inside.
