Crews are investigating the cause of a fast-moving, three alarm fire that ripped through a Brooklyn home Friday morning.
The New York City Fire Department says flames broke out around 6:30 a.m inside the three-story home located at 1029 42nd Street in Borough Park.
Fire officials say 13 adults and four children from two separate families made it out of the house.
One person who had to be rescued inside the home suffered minor injuries.
At one point there were more than 175 firefighters on scene; five were treated for minor injuries.
"It's a very labor intensive fire, we have to pull all of the walls down, pull all of the ceilings down to expose the fire and get water into those voids," said FDNY Deputy Chief Robert Long.
"My daughters were in the hallway, they said the radiator is smoking. I said there's no way a radiator is burning, look in the basement. They looked in the basement and we just got everybody out," said Laura Gonzalez, a displaced resident.
Fire investigators say while it's not exactly clear what sparked the fire, it appears to have started in the basement.
However, some residents of the house believe it may have been started by people who want them out of the neighborhood, claiming a number of other homes on the block have been burned down over the years.
"I'm just really hoping that this was not intentionally set. That all of us people are not homeless because somebody wanted the property," Gonzalez said.
"This will be investigated by the Fire Marshals. I'm sure if they feel there is any kind of a pattern involved here they will investigate it," Strong said.
The Red Cross is now assisting the displaced families.
