The harrowing rescue by firefighters of a mother and her three children from a burning apartment building in Harris County, Texas, was caught on camera early Monday morning.
Video shows a mother as she passes her three children to a firefighter from the second floor of an apartment building into the arms of a firefighter on a ladder as flames rage inches away behind them.
The size of the flames was also captured by another person who was at the apartment complex.
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It was one of many escapes from the building.
“We went to the closet to get clothes and shoes,” Margaret Williams told ABC affiliate ABC7. “We seen the smoke collapsing in the roof inside the apartment. I just grabbed my kids and went.”
Williams told KHOU 11 she was sad for everyone in the building.
“It just hurts, I feel for everybody, we all work hard, we work hard every day, we take our kids today, and everything’s gone … starting over is the hard part,” she said.
At one point, ABC7 reports a puppy was rescued just before 4 a.m. local time, but he has since been reunited with his owner.
Firefighters worked through the night battling the blaze, with hot spots continuing to crop up during the day.
The entire building was engulfed by the flames, firefighters say, and as a result, the roof and structure collapsed, with 16 apartment units burning to the ground.
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KHOU 11 reports the fire marshal is investigating the cause, but no one was injured.
The Red Cross is helping those families impacted.