A fire raged through several buildings in Revere, Massachusetts, Thursday, sending smoke high into the air over a tightly packed neighborhood near the ocean.
The five-alarm fire burned on Endicott Avenue, near the world-famous Revere Beach.
Six buildings were damaged, three badly, Revere fire Chief Christopher Bright said, but it didn't appear that anyone was hurt. At least 15 families have been impacted, and firefighters were seen removing dead animals from a building.
Aerial footage showed flames rushing up the sides of at least two homes as firefighters on cranes doused them with water. The smoke could be seen for miles.
One building appeared to have gotten the brunt of the damage. It seemed to be a double-wide triple-decker apartment building, with two apartments on either side of each floor.
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It wasn't immediately clear what caused the fire.
Firefighters from Cambridge, Lynn, Somerville, Medford and Boston were seen helping to put out the flames.
One woman nearby said her dog was still inside; another man said a woman who lives down the street smelled smoke and banged on doors to alert other residents.
That woman, who gave her name as Amanda, said she'd been out in the yard with her six-year-old son when they smelled fire, then saw it: "It looked like a pile of logs with a barbeque on top of it."
As neighbors called 911, she ran over to the building and knocked on the doors on the first floor.
"No one answered so I just pulled the fire alarm switch," Amanda said.
Bright said she did the right thing, and was grateful for her heroic actions.
