The flames came sweeping from the ground floor in the back of the house on 60th Road just before noon, trapping a mother and her two children inside.
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"We heard the kids screaming and we ran outside, and it was just a big cloud of smoke," said witness Kayla Munnelly.
Firefighters rescued the trapped family just moments after they arrived on the scene as witnesses watched the heroic efforts of New York's Bravest.
"We saw the firefighters getting the ladder trying to get them, they were trying come out of the window - the little kids," said witness Ann Marie Sussman.
It took 140 firefighters about 90 minutes to get the flames under control.
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Seven people suffered minor injuries, including a firefighter who fell into the basement when the first floor collapsed.
A neighbor who lives three doors down from the fire explained what she witnessed.
"I ran outside the fire department was already here and I was just screaming for the firemen just to get my friend and her kids out," the neighbor named Tiffany said. "You know, my main concern for my friend and her kids because they're wonderful people and they just lost everything."
The Red Cross says it's helping 25 people. Many children were home when the fire broke out since it's a school holiday.
Con Edison crews shut off utilities, and cleanup and restoration teams got to work securing the homes as residents grabbed any belongings they could take with them.
"We see things like this every day, but this is one of the worst fires I've seen in a very long time," said Walter Greenberg of SERVPRO.
The fire went to three alarms and took an hour and a half to get under control, gutting both buildings and leaving seven people including two firefighters with minor injuries.
Fire Marshals are investigating what sparked the fire.
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ALSO READ | Fire that left 3 injured in Teaneck may be suspicious
3 hurt after fire traps people in basement of home in Teaneck
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