Families Lose Homes, Cherished Dog As Fire Rips Through NE Philadelphia Duplex

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Two families are displaced and a beloved pet is dead after a fire rips through a duplex in North East Philadelphia.

The fire broke out Saturday evening at a home on the 4200 block of Orchard Street in Frankford.

"We went to lay down and I heard a big boom, and when we looked out the window, we saw the flames," said Serena Santos. She stays a few doors down from where the fire took place, but her mother in-law lived in the duplex next to the home that caught fire.

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She says her daughters were sleeping over their grandmother's house when the fire broke out.

"When we went out, we took them out, and all you seen was flames going from one house to the next house. Serena says the house is a complete loss, but she's happy no people were hurt.

"Cherish your family, because when tragedies like this happen that's all we have is family." Serena says the people who lived next door to her mother-in-law lost their house which was in their family for 60 years as well as one of their dogs that they treasured dearly.