VIDEO: Mother, 3 children rescued from fiery apartment building in northwest Harris County

HOUSTON – A mother and her three children were rescued Monday from a burning apartment building in northwest Harris County.

Firefighters were called around 2 a.m. to the North Bend Apartments in the 14100 block of Cornerstone Village Drive. First responders found flames shooting from a 16-unit building and a mother and her children trapped on a second-floor balcony.

Rescuers pulled the family to safety.

The dramatic video shows firefighters, one on a ladder, getting a woman's children to safety one-by-one.

At first she is not sure she should hand her children over the railing, but she eventually lets them go and they are rushed away from the massive flames, the video shows.

Officials said the 8-year-old who was rescued heard the smoke alarms and got everyone up and out of the apartment.

WATCH: Mother, 3 children rescued from NW Harris County apartment fire

Two other men were going around alerting people of the fire, officials said.

"We were going door to door to make sure people got out of the apartments, but thank God everyone got out. It's just tragic. That's just sad, man," Byron Potts said.

“I heard the sirens and it woke me up,” Joan Wilson said. 

Wilson and her daughters live in the apartment complex. Watching the video on television of a mother desperate to save her three children is something she will never forget. 

“I cried, I really broke down. I cried. It was horrible,” Wilson said.

A spokesperson said firefighters made contact with every family who lived in the building, but a search and rescue dog was deployed to make sure everyone was accounted for.

Fire officials said the building was destroyed.

WATCH: Emotional mother escapes apartment fire with husband, 2 children
 

No one was injured.

The Red Cross is assisting displaced families with housing, food and clothes. They set up a shelter at St. Timothy Lutheran Church, a few miles away from the scene of the fire. 

The cause of the fire is under investigation. Arson investigators are still talking to witnesses.

Residents are grateful for the first responders and the two neighbors who went door to door, alerting them to the danger. 

“I think everybody was just brave. The way the trees were catching on fire. I'm surprised they were even able to put it out. I thought it was going to be worse than what it was.  I'm just glad everybody is safe,” Tammy Gayle said. 


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