BROCKTON (CBS) – Twelve adults and five children were left homeless by a fire at an apartment building on Main Street in Brockton early Sunday morning.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030′s Kim Tunnicliffe reports.

Two children and their parents were rescued by ladder from their third floor porch at around 1:30 a.m. after flames and smoke shot up from the basement, where the fire started, to the top floor.

First-floor resident Lee Harmon knew the family was trapped upstairs. He wanted to help, but was forced back by the thick smoke.

“I wanted to go up and get them, but I had a baby in my arms, my great grand kid… I was gonna be very afraid because the smoke was coming up, got too much smoke and couldn’t get up there,” said Harmon.

Harmon lost everything in the fast-moving fire, but everyone got out safely.

“We’ve got our lives, thank God for that. That’s the main thing,” said Harmon.

Resident Chrissy Hammonds was able to salvage a few things from her burnt-out apartment, like family photos and a Bible, but she doesn’t care about the material losses.

“I just pray to God that everybody was safe. Everybody. I always pray, so I just keep doing that,” said Hammonds.

One firefighter was hurt while battling the blaze.