Twelve Nashua residents were left homeless Thursday night after a fire tore through their apartment building.
Fire officials said that the fire started in the Morgan Street building early Thursday evening and heavily damaged the second floor.
Residents Mike and Janet Gannon were home when their smoke alarms went off. Janet Gannon said she ran across the hall to warn her niece and opened the door to a major blaze.
"I got a puff of smoke and saw the living room, in the front of the building, was in flames," she said.
The Gannons called 911 and knocked on doors to make sure everyone got out safely. No one was injured in the fire.
Resident Gilberto Alvarez wasn't home when the fire broke out.
"My friend, she called and said my building's on fire," Alvarez said. "I said, 'Wow!'"
His first-floor apartment sustained little damage, and his cat survived. Alvarez said he can't stay in the building, and he doesn't know when he'll be able to return. The other floors sustained smoke and water damage.
Fire investigators said they are looking at an electrical box as a possible cause of the fire.
