BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A two-alarm fire ripped through a house on the first block of Pooley Place around 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
Investigators said the blaze started in a duplex at 62-64 Pooley Place and then spread to a house next door. The flames even warped the siding on a house across the street
Two civilians and two firefighters were injured, but they are non-life threatening according to investigators.
Damage is estimated at $275,000 for the duplex at 62-64 Pooley Place. Exposure damage occurred at 61, 66-68 and 67 Pooley Place with damage estimated at $65,000.
Fire Battalion Chief Tom Meldrum said the fire was a struggle because of the intense heat.
The Red Cross is assisting eight people and the cause of the fire is under investigation.
Among them are three brothers who grew up at the house.
“I felt heat like towards my face," said Melvin O'Neill Curt. "The whole porch just went up. So I had to jump out."
Now he and his brothers must find a new home.
"All of my everything, the years of accumulated, all the stuff that I have...it's like over $20,000 worth of stuff. It's gone," said his brother Emmett O'Neill.
Their sister, Nichole Miron, came to the scene to help her brothers and also to try to find the urns containing the ashes of her father and brother.
The family members say they don't believe the fire was an accident and told investigators what they believe happened.
Fire officials said Wednesday they were investigating the cause.
