Citizen app video shows the fire shooting out of an eighth-floor window.
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Officials say the fire started at around 2:30 a.m. Thursday in the Marlboro Houses on Avenue V.
Residents reported hearing some kind of explosion, like a bottle bursting, as the blaze began. When they looked outside, they saw a large ball of fire and smoke.
One resident says that the smoke was not so bad that she couldn't evacuate. She says she used the stairs to leave just as firefighters were rushing in.
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"I was getting ready to go to sleep and then I heard a big explosion and looked outside and there was a bunch of screaming. Then, I looked out the window and I saw all the fire and I saw all the smoke," the resident said.
Officials say firefighters had flashlights to help them comb through the debris and investigate what caused the fire. Crews worked quickly to extinguish the flames.
The resident who lives in the apartment where the fire started says he is grateful his family is OK.
"It looks like a horror movie, looks like a scary movie for real. I've definitely seen other apartments in the same situation be remade. Hopefully we can get it back, if we can't, then we just gotta move on," he said.
This resident is not the only one who has to figure out next steps.
One woman, who is a diabetic, was devastated by the fire because she says she has been unable to get medicine from her apartment.
The Red Cross is helping two families displaced by the fire.
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