An early morning fire caused the evacuation of an apartment building in downtown New Rochelle today.

Fire officials say the three-alarm blaze broke out just before 5 a.m. on North Avenue and the Boulevard. "I was sleeping and then mommy said fire, and then I woke up and then I got my shoes and then they knocked on the door," says resident Noah Eryah.

"Very heavy banging on the door, yelling that there's a fire. So, when I opened up, it was the fire department and the police department. They did a wonderful job, they got everybody out fast," says resident Edward Tiernan.

The New Rochelle fire chief says the cause remains under investigation but that they believe it started on the third floor and moved up several floors into a cockloft - which is a small loft just below a roof. "The fire was in a cockloft, as we were explaining earlier. Once that happens, then the fire really has the run of the building. We were able to get ahead of it and save a good part of the building, which was a good job - the members are very aggressive," says New Rochelle Fire Chief Andrew Sandor.

Sandor says one firefighter is being treated for a back injury and one resident for a pre-existing medical issue.

The Red Cross is helping roughly 100 residents try to find a place to call home again and are taking them to the Fuller Center at 659 Main St. for the time being. They're looking for donations for everything from diapers to clothing to help the displaced.