JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The six people who got out of a burning Springfield, Fla., home early Tuesday credited their kittens with waking them up and allowing them to escape without injury, television station WJXT reported.

Video: Kittens Alert Residents To Fire

When firefighters responded to a fire at a two-story home at 3:45 a.m., they found the home fully engulfed in flames. Because the homes are so close together in that neighborhood, the houses on either side also caught fire.

The original home was destroyed, and the other two sustained some damage. One of those homes was vacant, and one was occupied.

Resident Lisa Kimmerle said a litter of kittens in the house was meowing so loudly that it woke her and others up.

Kimmerle said she heard popping sounds, then ran to the stairway. She saw flames shooting up. She and the other residents who were upstairs climbed out a second-story window onto the roof and were helped down by another neighbor.

Kimmerle said all six residents were stuck in the back yard when firefighters arrived. The residents had to yell for help, and the firefighters got them out of the back yard by cutting through a chain link fence.

"God woke the kittens up, and the kittens woke us up," Kimmerle said.

Jacksonville Fire-Rescue spokesman Tom Francis said there were smoke detectors in the house, but none had batteries.

Francis said about 50 firefighters battled the two-alarm blaze.

The Red Cross was assisting the six residents displaced by the fire. The kittens were all carried out of the home and were safe as well.