MANCHESTER, N.H. --
A massive 5-alarm fire has burned at least four apartment buildings, destroying two of them, on Lake Avenue in Manchester.
The first flames were reported at around 3:15 a.m. on Thursday.
The fire spread quickly, engulfing 335, 337 and 341 Lake Ave. The buildings are located in the block between Maple and Lincoln Streets.
As of 5:30 a.m., that fire was under control but firefighters remained on scene to monitor and clean up the area.
Firefighters said it appeared that everybody made it out of the buildings safely, but two firefighters were taken to local hospitals for unknown injuries.
Residents of the buildings said that they were awoken by the intense heat.
"I threw the covers off of me because I thought it was just the heat," said resident Thomas Collazo. "I looked out the window I saw the flames at my window. From there, we just grabbed everything we could and we ran out.
There was no immediate estimate on how many families lived in the buildings.
Flames raged through the buildings, and witnesses reported seeing the flames leaping into the air from nearly a mile away.
Crews had a portion of Lake Avenue shut down along with sections of other nearby streets.
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