A fire destroyed two homes in Brockton, Massachusetts, overnight, injuring a firefighter and two other people.
Firefighters responded to the multi-family homes on South Street just before 3 a.m. on Thursday.
Officials said eight people live in one of the homes and 11 people live in the other. Multiple people were sleeping inside at the time of the fire.
All of the people who live in the homes have been accounted for, fire officials said.
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Fire officials said the fire was concentrated to the front of the homes. Residents who escaped from the back of the home were trapped in the fenced in backyard. Firefighters had to cut through a fence to get them out safely.
The close proximity of the homes to each other made it challenging to fight the fire, Brockton's Fire Chief Brian Nardelli says. One of the buildings collapsed in the fire. The front structure of the other home is wavering following the fire so firefighters are approaching it with caution.
Three people, including a firefighter, were taken to the hospital for heat exhaustion. Fire officials say there were no major injuries.
Firefighters were still working to extinguish hot spots as of 6 a.m. Thursday morning.
One resident, Maria Rogers, told NBC10 Boston that her dog Bentley saved her life by barking and waking her up so she was able to escape the flames.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
