DETROIT (WWJ) - Two neighboring homes in Detroit were destroyed on Tuesday morning after authorities suspect a truck parked nearby caught on fire -- and the flames quickly spread.
WWJ's Charlie Langton reported live from the scene on the city's east side where the shells of two burnt out residences could be seen off of Holcomb Street near I-94 and Van Dyke.
The Detroit Fire Department extinguished the blaze that fanned to life sometime in the early morning hours on July 18, but Langton said a number of Detroit police officers were at the scene concentrated their efforts on a charred truck that was parked between the two houses.
"They're not 100% certain, but what it looks like happened...looks like a truck caught on fire and then it spread to the two homes, completely destroying the homes," Langton reported in a 6:10 a.m. update.
Resident Pharrin Cummings told Langton he had been living in one of the homes for the last 10 months. He said family members woke him up when the fire broke out.
"I was in my bedroom asleep," he told Langton. "My father-in-law came in there and he said, 'get up, get up, get up, get up.' And I was like, 'well, what's going on?' He's like, 'look out your window,' and the whole side of the house was burning."
Langton said Cummings was able to escape, but everything in the home was destroyed.
"This is my nephew's house," Cummings continued. "He's going to be very pissed."
The Detroit Fire Department confirmed there were no injuries related to the incident and the other house appeared to be empty at the time the fire started.
Arson investigators are continuing to work the scene to determine the cause of the blaze.
"We'll see if we can figure out exactly what else is going on over here," Langton said.
This is a developing story. Stay tuned to WWJ LIVE for the latest updates.