Three residential buildings went up in flames Tuesday when a fire tore through the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York.

The fire is believed to have started at 9:30 p.m. EST in a three-story building in Bergen Street near Franklin Avenue and quickly spread to the second and third structures, causing it to escalate into a three-alarm fire. Flames and black smoke were seen bellowing out of the windows of the burning building from streets away, NBC New York reported.

It took one and a half hour for the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) to bring the blaze under control. By 11 p.m. EST, the firefighters were double-checking the charred, smoldering buildings, especially focusing on the roof.

All the residents of the affected buildings were accounted for and no casualties were reported, according to law enforcement officers. The building where the fire started housed three members, all of whom were able to get to safety before the FDNY arrived at the scene.

"My sister called me. She was frantic. I came over here and I couldn't get on the block and I just saw the house on fire," a man who lived in the first building, told local Cable news channel NY1.

Here are a few pictures and videos of the fire that were circulated on the social media:

Three of the firefighters battling the fire were hurt when the stairway they were climbing came crashing down. They were admitted to the hospital along with a police officer, who was also injured at the scene, CW affiliated Pix 11 reported. Their present condition is unknown.

The official cause of the fire is still unknown. Fire officials were able to determine the fire started in the second floor of the first building, which went up in flames. Assistant FDNY chief, present at the scene, estimated the frigid weather and heating devices might have had a huge role to play in spreading the fire.

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