Smoky Christmas Eve fire forces families from Delaware County apartments

Several families were forced from their homes as a smoky fire tore through a Delaware County apartment building on Christmas Eve.

"I seen a bunch of smoke in my face," resident Tianny Smith said. "I said, 'fire, fire, fire!' I screamed and yelled for my dad, I yelled for my mom, I grabbed the kids... and I pushed them to the hallway."

The fire broke out on the second-floor of the 11-unit Parkview Apartments along Victory Avenue -- near West Chester Pike -- in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, around 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Delco dispatchers told NBC10.

Smith and her parents grabbed a fire extinguisher and tried to put out the flames, but it was too late as "black smoke" had taken over the building.

The Smith family then rushed out of the building, shouting for neighbors to get out.

Some residents credited the screams of their neighbors and what they were taught about fire safety for helping them escape the blaze unharmed. One woman even said she used the rear fire escape after hearing neighbor's screams.

"I learned a lot in school about, you know, when there's a fire you let people know, you warn, you scream, you gotta do drop and run," Smith said. "Do anything you can to get out and get everybody out safe."

No injuries were reported.

In the aftermath, windows were smashed out -- something firefighters had to do to let out the smoke - and people were wondering when they could return to their homes to assess the damage.

"It doesn't matter what you lost at the end of the day," Smith said. "It's a matter about everybody's life getting out safe and seeing their families another day."

The American Red Cross was assisting at least five families who couldn't return to their homes on Christmas Eve. It was unclear if some other residents could have been out of town at the time of the blaze.

The cause of the fire wasn't immediately clear.