Child Home Sick From School Wakes To Smoke Alarm, Escapes House Fire

GLOUCESTER (CBS) -- A child home sick from school in Gloucester says he was woken up by smoke alarms after a fire broke out in his home Tuesday morning.

Officials said the boy was able to escape to a neighbor's house unharmed.

The fire started just before 9:15 a.m. on Grove Street. When firefighters arrived, intense flames could be seen on the second and third floors of the two-family home.

After searching the house for possible victims, crews found no one inside.

According to officials, neighbors were temporarily evacuated while firefighters were working but were able to return home later, though their house has exterior damage from outstretched flames.

The house where the fire broke out is seriously damaged and two families have been displaced. One family is staying with relatives and another family, a single mother and her four children, is being assisted by the Red Cross.

One firefighter obtained a minor injury.

Officials are trying to determine what caused the fire.