D.C. firefighters said when then entered a home to put out a fire Thursday morning, the occupants inside the house were still asleep.
Fire officials said they were called around 5 a.m. for the fire in the 400 block of Hamilton Street in Northwest.
When firefighters entered the house, they found seven people inside sleeping while the house burned.
"When we got on the scene there was smoke showing out of the eaves. The doors were locked so we forced entry into the house and the occupants were still asleep," Sgt. Peter Giannini told NBC4. "Three people came down from the upstairs after we got in and alerted them and then we went into the basement and there were three or four people down there."
Everyone inside the home made it out safely, but fire officials called for a second alarm after finding smoke in adjoining homes and because of how that fire was burning.
"We opened up the roof and opened up the ceiling and the fire was rolling across the ceiling from the rear of the house to the front of the house between the ceiling and the roof itself," Giannini said.
Firefighters said they feared the fire would spread to the connecting row homes, but officials said the fire was contained to the one home and no one was injured.
"I don't know if a neighbor called or how the call originated, but no one in the house was aware of it," said Giannini. "If it had been any longer, the way the fire spread, this could have been a tragedy I think."
The investigation is in its early stages, but fire officials said there may not have been any working smoke alarms inside the house.
