Fire crews were called around 1:45 a.m. to the Brandywine Woods Apartments, located on the 600 block of Brandywine Drive.
Heavy fire was showing from the upper floors of the building when firefighters arrived, quickly escalating the response to three alarms.
Efforts to contain the blaze were hampered by bursting natural gas lines.
One witness says he first saw flames in a third floor balcony, which quickly moved into the wooden structure of the roof area.
Noah Wible says he was asleep when he was rousted by the fire alarm. Once outside, he heard a woman shouting for help. He tells us, "This lady starts screaming from her window - second floor apartment. So I grabbed a ladder off the van and put it up. And some guy ran up the ladder and helped her down."
Despite the massive blaze, there were no serious injuries among residents. Fire officials credit sprinklers in the living areas of the building for that outcome.
Even Noah's pet chinchilla, Steve, was just fine when firefighters found him in the family's apartment.
In all, eleven residents have been displaced by the fire.
So far, no word on what sparked the blaze.
