(Courtesy photo) Firefighters begin searching for hot spots in the most heavily damaged portion of the duplex home where fire broke out in the pre-dawn hours Saturday, leaving the home uninhabitable and displacing eight residents.

NASHUA — A pre-dawn fire that left a Carver Street duplex uninhabitable sent the eight occupants scurrying from the burning building, including two who climbed to safety out of a second-floor window onto a first-floor roof, where other residents and neighbors had set up a ladder and helped them to the ground.

The residents had just made it to the ground when Nashua Fire Rescue Engine 1 and Ladder 1 rolled up on the scene, where Lt. Patrick Kerrigan and his crew were met by some of the occupants who told them everyone was out of the building, according to NFR Deputy Chief Mark Wholey.

Kerrigan reported heavy fire coming from the duplex, at 4 Carver St., which is in the Fairmount Heights neighborhood, when he arrived at about 4:30 a.m., within three minutes of the initial dispatch, Wholey said.

While the Engine 1 crew attacked the flames, the ladder truck crew conducted a search of the building to confirm that nobody was still inside.

Wholey said crews utilized three hoselines to fight the fire, which consumed both floors of the building’s right side, where the fire likely originated, and extended into the attic.

(Courtesy photo) Firefighters work at the scene of the early-morning fire Saturday that displaced eight residents of a duplex home at 4 Carver St. All occupants escaped unharmed.

In all, 27 firefighters manning four engines and two ladder trucks, along with a fire investigator and an ambulance crew, responded

to the scene, Wholey said.

The fire was declared under control about 90 minutes after crews arrived.

One firefighter, whose name wasn’t provided, sustained an ankle injury, Wholey said. His or her condition is unknown.

The cause of the fire, and where it started, are under investigation by members of the city Fire Marshal’s office.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.