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At Least 100 Homeless After Raging Perth Amboy Fire

PERTH AMBOY (CBS 2) -- A raging fire destroyed home after home in Perth Amboy Sunday night, leaving at least 100 people with nowhere to go just days before Christmas.

Pomales, a single mother of five, watched in horror as her apartment building in Harbortown Terrace burned, buckled and crumbled.

"Within seconds, it was all on fire," resident Marianela Pomales said.

Witnesses said the gigantic flames that roared across at least two apartment complexes seemed to start with a car fire in one of the attached garages.

Pomales, unsure where she and her kids will stay, said Christmas is ruined.

"Kids, presents, gifts, everything under my tree – every thing was gone," she said. "My furniture, clothes, everything."

"The flames were so high that I ran to our unit, grabbed my wife and our dogs," resident Roger Williams said. "We have to leave now, because I don't know what's going to happen."

"We're all attached to one another, so you could turn around and everything is gone," Danielle Berlingieri said.

At least 14 families were being helped by the Red Cross Sunday night, a number that is expected to grow.

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