This browser does not support the Video element.
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WJBK) - WEB UPDATE: As of 6 p.m. the fire was still burning at the apartment building, Erika Erickson reports.
A two-alarm fire destroyed a Southfield's Carnegie Park apartments building Friday as the blaze lasted for hours in frigid temperatures.
Firefighters from several nearby communities were called in to help and now residents are searching for a place to stay, after being forced out of their homes.
Reunited with her beloved pet -- Brittnie Wilson and her boyfriend was relieved this massive fire only destroyed their home.
"No one was really in the house," Wilson said. "The kids were at school. He was the only one left so that's all I cared about."
"I knew we were all gone," said Brian Morison. "But I knew that (the dog) was the last one in the house. So that's what I was worried about. Material is material."
Southfield fire crews say the fire began ripping through a lower unit in the building just before noon Friday -- spreading fast.
"About 2-3 minutes in, the second floor gave way," said Chief Johnny Menifee. "We have now also lost the third floor."
Spreading into roughly a dozen units, the fire was contained to one part of the building. Menifee ruled it too dangerous for fire crews.
"Once the floor gave way and it spread to the third floor and the third floor gave way," he said. "I called it out; it was going to be a defensive fire."
While a neighbor sadly lost her dog in the blaze, thankfully, no other injuries are reported. One neighbor, Keith Paul, Jr. -- one building over tells Fox 2. He was sitting at home playing Xbox.
"Then I smelled smoke," said Keith Paul, Jr. "I didn't actually hear the fire alarm. I opened up my front door, a big cloud of smoke came in, and I grabbed clothes, came out on the balcony and called for help."
With West Bloomfield, Royal Oak and Farmington Hills fire crews assisting Southfield three firefighters using this ladder reached Paul, his father getting a frantic phone call.
FOX 2: "When you get a phone call like that ..."
"That's not a good feeling at all," said Keith Paul, Sr. "I was racing home quickly."
With residents pulled to safety and warming up, firefighters spent hours battling the blaze and putting out hot spots warning everyone to stay away.
"Let us do our job," Menifee said. "Let us get this fire under control."
As this young man calls these firefighters quite courageous.
"I told them thank you and I shook all of their hands," Keith Jr. said.
Roughly a dozen families have been displaced. The Red Cross has been contacted and the Salvation Army is already here.
Fire officials are still working to find the cause of this fire.