The American Red Cross is assisting 11 families after a devastating overnight inferno left nearly 40 Newark residents without a place to sleep.
Firefighters rushed to Clifton Avenue around 2 a.m. Saturday for a fire that appeared to start in an abandoned building on the block.
Eventually the flames spread to two neighboring homes and required a 3-alarm response from fire crews, who were still putting water on the structures well after the sun came up.
Officials estimated 39 people were displaced by the fire, 11 of which were children. There were no immediate reports of any injuries.
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Neighbors said the fire appeared to start in a home abandoned for several years -- a home they said should have been on the city's radar following countless complaints.
"It is heartbreaking seeing my home destroyed, my son's stuff," Blanca Fernandez said Saturday morning. "It's not easy, all the memories."
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The fire department's arson investigators visited the scene early Saturday morning, but so far there's been no official cause of the blaze released.
It's also not clear when, or if, any of the residents of the homes will be able to reenter and sort through what's left from the destruction.
"We have to start again," Fernandez said.
