Fire destroys one home, affects two others in early morning blaze in Kingston, Ont.

A Kingston family is thanking first responders for their quick work to save their home and family possessions from an early morning fire.

The blaze affected three homes in the city's east end on Pauline Tom Avenue, just south of Highway 401 around 2 a.m. Wednesday.

Video footage given to CTV News Ottawa shows one house, where the fire originated, ablaze, while firefighters lining the street try to protect the houses on either side.

Jerome Robin-Theriault says he was asleep at home with his wife and children when he heard a loud banging at the door.

“We saw the children of my neighbours yelling, 'The house is on fire! The house is on fire!'” he says. “And I saw the fire. Very strong and very intense.”

The sides and rear of his neighbour's home quickly melted away.

His wife Amelie Journeault says, within minutes, the flames jumped to the roof of her own home.

“My neighbour was there so I tried to tell her that everything was going to be all right,” she says. “Until the time I realized my own house was on fire.”

She says it reached the roof of her son's room.

“It was horrible. My kids was there. We were there and we were looking at it and you can do nothing. We were already outside.”

Kingston fire officials tell CTV News Ottawa that 30 firefighters attended the scene with several trucks.

Robin-Theriault says while fire crews worked on the home where the fire started, the roof collapsed. Fire officials confirm no one was hurt. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Throughout the morning, firefighters worked to put out hot spots in the home where the fire started.

A third house was also affected by the blaze, but the owner confirms no one was home at the time.

Journeault says the left-hand side of her house and the roof took the brunt of the flames. There was also extensive water damage.

But Journeault says it was what the firefighters did during the fight that struck her the most—pulling photos and souvenirs off the walls and covering furniture, which she says saved her family’s possessions from water damage.

“They took the photos and put them in my room, my room is in the front so it wasn’t affected by the fire. It’s wonderful,” she says, beginning to tear up.

“You can’t take your memories or (anything); you have to stay outside,” she says of watching the blaze unfold.

It was an act the family says they won’t soon forget. Journeault and her family, now working to rebuild, say they are just grateful no one was hurt.