19 people left homeless after house fire in Chatsworth

CHATSWORTH, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A fire erupted at a home in Chatsworth Tuesday morning, leaving more than a dozen people homeless.

It was a frightening wake-up call for the tenants living in the single-family home. About eight fire engines rushed to the scene. Firefighters worked to knock out the fire that the home's manager said started in the garage.

"Nobody got hurt. That was my main concern when I got here - Was everybody OK?" Cunie Houston said.

Most of the fire was contained to the garage and its contents were completely charred. But no one was injured in the fire, although a firefighter was hurt outside of the area and taken to a hospital.

The Red Cross responded to help the people who were living in the home.

"They've gone through a pretty tough thing and they were all pretty resilient. I was very happy to see that. Nobody was injured. Everybody got out safely, the animals got out safely," Valerie Eads said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. It started one day after a deadline the tenants had been given to move out.

The property owner had evicted the manager, who was renting out rooms to residents, some of whom were transitioning out of homelessness. Now, those people have nowhere to stay.

"Where am I, a paraplegic woman, you know, 55 years old...where are we going to go?" tenant Robin Molina said.

There has been trouble at the home before. Last August, the manager's brother was murdered. His body was found in the driveway of the property.

The Red Cross said they gave 19 people financial assistance to get housing and food for the next two nights.