4-year-old alerts family to Citrus Heights fire that destroyed their unit on Father's Day

Flames ripped through an apartment complex on Auburn Boulevard in Citrus Heights on Father's Day morning, leaving at least 20 people without a place to live.

One father says his 4-year-old daughter is the one who alerted him to the fire as he was putting her down for a nap.

"My daughter points outside and says there's a fire. I get up and look outside. Yeah, sure enough, the whole porch is on fire. Same with the neighbor's porch. They were both already on fire," said Justin Bayless.

Bayless grabbed his kids and ran outside. Once he realized no one else was outside, he started banging on the neighbor's doors, telling people to get out as he watched the smoke start to take over.

"We would've went to sleep. We would've taken a nap," said Bayless.

He says the building went up within minutes of their escape. Fortunately, no one was injured.

Metro Fire says the fire started on a balcony before making its way inside at least eight of the 12 units.

"The entire building is affected. Either through fire, smoke or water damage," said Captain Mark Nunez with Sac Metro Fire.

The building's power is shut off and it's uninhabitable. As fire crews investigate and assess the damage, the Red Cross is working with families on finding them places to live.

The Bayless family lost everything.

"I didn't have much time. I'd rather get the kids out than the materialistic stuff," said Bayless. "We were just watching TV like any other family, and all of a sudden, the back porch is on fire, and there's nothing you can do to save it either. You can't play superhero with those flames, it's not like what you see in the movies."

Metro Fire is still investigating the cause.