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Neighbors help family jump from roof during house fire

Posted at 1:26 PM, Sep 22, 2014
and last updated 2014-09-23 10:22:02-04

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.– A family is forced to jump to safety when their house caught fire, Monday morning.

It happened on the 1000 block of Boston Street SE in Grand Rapids.

“We heard screaming, ‘get the children out.”

That was enough to send Mark Allan running across the street and into his neighbors burning home.

“My wife said I think they are on the roof and I come out,” Allan recalled. “I caught one of the girls who can’t be more than 13.”

In all the chaos, Allan didn't remember how many people were rescued. But he believed the kids ranged in ages from several months to 14 years.

Allan said two other neighbors helped get the rest of them down.

According to firefighters, the fire started in the basement and spread upstairs. It was likely electrical in nature.

It's not yet known if anyone was injured from jumping from the roof, but everyone is safe.

The house did have smoke detectors.

The Red Cross is helping out that family.