A Newark, New Jersey neighborhood is now coated in ice after firefighters fought for hours in freezing conditions to contain a blaze that set fire to eight homes.
The fire broke out around 3:30am in an abandoned home on South 14th Street and Ninth Ave.
When firefighters got to the scene, it was already to late for them to try and enter the building and put it out, and it quickly grew out of control.
Gusts of 40 mph quickly sent sparks flying, and the fire spread to seven other buildings, both next to it and across the street.
Newark firefighters walk near the site of an early morning fire on Friday
The fire broke out around 3:30am in an abandoned building and spread to seven other homes
No civilians were injured or killed in the fire, which took more than five hours to put out
The water firefighters used to battle the blaze quickly turned to ice
Of the eight buildings that caught fire, two collapsed. A car also caught fire and exploded.
The temperature was only five degrees during the five hours the fire raged, so all of the water the firefighters were pumping at the buildings quickly turned to ice.
It proved a hazardous working environment for the firefighters, two of whom suffered minor injuries from slipping on the ice. About 80 firefighters were at the scene.
No civilians died or were injured.
At one point, a car caught fire and burst into flames
The shell of the car is seen above later in the day, when the fire was put out
Like the buildings and powerlines, the car was also covered in ice
Two firefighters, including the one pictured center above, sustained minor injuries from falling on ice
However, some residents had to leave their homes so fast they didn’t even have time to put their shoes on.
‘We’re blessed to be alive. We thank God that we got out in time. I’m telling you it’s just that bad,’ one resident said told PIX 11. ‘The TV had exploded in front of my eyes.’
It’s unclear exactly how many people were displaced by the fire, but the Red Cross was at the scene helping the families.
Resident Shannon Stevens told CBS 2 that the heat was so intense she could feel it all the way down the street.
In addition to the house fire above, firefighters in the city battled two other blazes Friday morning
A person salts the front porch of a home adjacent to the early morning fire
A Newark firefighter inspects the area on the roof of a building while helping put out an early morning fire on Friday
‘I can feel the heat actually at my window and I was scared. Then all the electricity went out and you don’t know what to do,’ she said. ‘I’m panicking, I’m looking for my keys and then I came outside.’
Firefighters also had to battle two other blazes in bitter cold weather in the city. No one was injured or killed in either of those fires.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
During the fire, power and gas had to be shut down to the area, leaving residents without much-needed heat. But most of the power has since been restored.