SUGAR NOTCH, Pa. — Crews had to battle more than flames early Friday morning in Luzerne County.
The fire at an apartment building on Main Street in Sugar Notch went up around 1:30 a.m.
One man had to pull people from the roof using a ladder before emergency crews arrived.
Not long before the roof of the apartment building in Sugar Notch caved in, Emilio Camacho was standing on top of it with his wife and 1-year old son.
"I thought we were going to die," Camacho said.
A fire broke out in the middle of the night, and smoke filled the home quickly.
Camacho and his family escaped through a window and onto the roof.
John Hassick lived in the building and had already made it out, but he heard his neighbors on the roof.
"I knew there was a ladder next door, so I ran and grabbed it. They were yelling that they couldn't get down," Hassick recalled. "And the roof was all icy. He actually slid onto the ladder. He almost didn't make it down."
All nine people who lived in this building made it out safely before emergency crews arrived.
The icy roads slowed them down.
"The fire was well advanced as our first-Arriving unit pulled on scene," Hanover Township Assistant Fire Chief Danny Harkenreader said.
Firefighters spent the next five hours at work as smoke continued to pour out of the building. The freezing rain and ice made it tough.
"Terrible, horrible, just terrible," Harkenreader said. "It beats you up."
The residents who were forced out of their homes and into the snow didn't have time to grab anything to keep them warm. Neighbors across the street helped out.
"They got us coats, gave me a shot of whiskey. I'm good!" laughed Hassick.
"The most important thing is that we're all alive. We're safe," Camacho added. we lost everything, all of us, but we're all here."
Residents tell Newswatch 16 a dog and several cats are still missing.
Newswatch 16's Elizabeth Worthington was on scene all morning and provided more details.
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