MIAMI --
Ten people are homeless after fire ripped through a Miami apartment building on Monday.
Officials said that no one was seriously injured thanks to a 10-year-old boy who opened the burglar bars on the home and led people to safety.
"I saw fire on the mattresses and the whole living room was red and I couldn't see," said 10-year-old Lionel Jean Charles, Jr.
Officials said the fire was blocking the front entrance to the building on 63rd Street and Miami Avenue. Three families lived inside and if Charles hadn't disabled the burglar bars, the relatives would have been trapped inside.
"My mom went inside to get my grandma. Me and my brothers jumped out and woke up all the neighbors," said Charles' sister, Rebekah Jean.
Fire investigators said the blaze started when a light bulb got too close to a mattress, igniting it. The fire spread quickly, destroying two of the three units inside the building.
"I feel unlucky because we got the fire but lucky because we all got out safely," said Rebekah Jean.
An elderly woman inside the building was taken to a hospital for smoke inhalation, but no other injuries were reported.
The Red Cross is assisting the displaced families.
"I don't know what to do right now," said Lionel Jean Charles Sr. "I have no other place to go."
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