Two people were killed and five others were injured Monday in a fire near Detroit, authorities said.
First responders were alerted to the fire at a residence in Pontiac, about 30 miles north of Detroit, at around 2:40 a.m. on Monday, the Oakland County Sheriff's Office said, according to NBC affiliate WDIV.
The agency said 11 adults had been inside the house when it caught on fire, with the residence fully engulfed in flames by the time the Waterford Regional Fire Department arrived, the Detroit news station reported.
The Detroit Free Press described the residence as a two-story, multifamily building.
Authorities said a 36-year-old man told them he escaped the blaze by jumping out of a second-story window. He said he had told his 19-year-old stepson to do the same, but said he refused.
The 19-year-old had not been accounted for as of Monday, officials said.
One body had been found in a second-floor bedroom, while another was located in the first-floor kitchen, according to the sheriff's office. Both victims were not identified, but officials said they were both men.
Two other men were taken to a hospital and treated for smoke inhalation, the agency said. Meanwhile, another man was treated for a broken leg.
Describing the incident, Lebron Tyler, who survived the fire, told WDIV: “I could feel the heat. I was like, ‘No way I’m going through that — I gotta jump out the window'."
“I thought it was over because when I did try to jump my leg got caught. I don’t know how I made it, but I just made it,” Tyler said.
Timothy Minor, another resident who escaped the blaze, said, “it was terrifying ‘cause I didn’t know if I was going to live or die.”
It is still unclear what caused the fire, which remains under investigation.
