NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Authorities were still on the scene Thursday of a fast-moving fire that damaged eight row homes in Queens, injuring eight people.

The four-alarm blaze broke out around 8:10 p.m. Wednesday on 90th Street near 91st Avenue in Woodhaven and quickly spread.

Many said they heard yelling in the street before they even realized what was happening.

"I just heard somebody screaming, and I come out and see what happened. And when I see the fire, I went back to the house and ripped down my doors, and that's it," said fire victim Douglas Hernandez.

"It was insane. Everyone was trying to calm me down. I couldn't believe something like this would happen," neighbor Bryan Rampersap said.

The homes were built in the 1930s and are separate structures but share a common attic, which firefighters said helped the smoke and flames spread even faster.

Families began sorting through the damage Thursday.

"I think I lost everything. Everything," said victim Silvia Chavez. "I don't have nothing."

"Thank God we're all OK," said Diana Duran, another victim. "Material things can be replaced, but a life can't."

But FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said the damage could have been much worse.

"If you go towards Atlantic Avenue with the common area in that attic, we could have lost 18 buildings, and the fire was stopped," Nigro said. "These buildings can all be reoccupied at some point when they're repaired, and that's a good thing."

It took 175 firefighters about two hours to get the fire under control.

All the injuries appeared to be minor, officials said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.