DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A family of seven escaped a house fire early Friday in Volusia County.
No one was injured in the fire, which broke out around 1 a.m. on Shangri La Drive near Beville Road and Clyde Morris Boulevard in Daytona Beach.
The blaze gutted the front room of the home.
Firefighters said flames were shooting through the roof when they arrived. Five adults and two children safely escaped. A dog and a bird died in the fire, according to the family
The fire was extinguished, and officials credited homeowner Ed Franklin for quickly getting everyone out of the home.
"I woke up and I looked out towards the back and everything was engulfed. I didn't know what to do," Franklin said.
Still, he said he ventured down two levels to help his 4-year-old daughter and 13-year-old niece.
"By the time we got to them, the flames were so huge, we just barely got out," Franklin said.
Franklin's stepdaughter Kai Patterson is paralyzed from the waist down and she said if it weren't for her boyfriend carrying her down the stairs, she never would have escaped.
"I was going down the stairs with my boyfriend. He was carrying me because I am paralyzed and if it wasn't for him, I'd probably still be in my bed right now," Patterson said.
Now the family members say they're trying to figure out how to recover.
"This is something that none of us have ever dealt with and our entire house is gone," Patterson said. "There's really no words to describe how terrifying and horrible it was."
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Initial reports stated that six people escaped the blaze.
Watch News 6 for more on this story.