Neighbors React To Tragic Duplex Fire In N. Mpls.
Read More: 5 Children Dead In North Minneapolis House Fire
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - Only months after Troy Lewis' family lost a wife and mother, a raging house fire in north Minneapolis claimed five more lives.
Seven residents living on the main floor made it out alive, including Taleaha Cox. Seconds later, she heard Troy's screams coming from the second floor.
"My little brother's like, 'I think the house is on fire.' And then all I heard was the man upstairs like, 'Help! Police! Fire, fire, fire! Police!'" Cox said. "He was hanging out the window."
The fire swept through the home, trapping five of Troy's seven sleeping children.
Chris Anderson had just visited Troy and his kids on Thursday night.
"Hard to express without being so emotional, you know, because he's a good guy," Anderson said. "He's a very good guy."
Regis Woodson was hit hard when he realized that the fatal fire he heard about involved his friend's family.
"That's my friend's duplex, the only one who has seven kids, and that was him," Woodson said. "I knew it was him. That's why I came down."
Neighbors say Troy was doing a wonderful job raising his children as a single father. His wife dead of cancer last fall.