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Family Rescued After Warren Motel Catches Fire

WARREN (WWJ) - A family in Warren says they're lucky to be alive after being trapped in a motel room that caught fire.

It happened early Tuesday morning at America's Best Value Inn motel off of Van Dyke Avenue near 13 Mile Road. The fire started in room 415 and quickly spread to other rooms.

Twenty-year-old Justin Jackson was inside room 415 with his fiance, 13-year-old brother, mother and grandmother.

"We heard a tapping at the window and next thing I know there's flames coming in through the doorway, from around the door, and then we tried getting out and we tried pouring water over the fire," Jackson told WWJ's Mike Campbell. "And the next thing we know is the cops came over and knocked out the window and helped us get out."

Aside from some minor burns, everyone made it out safely and without serious injury.

"It was scary," said Samantha Guinther, Jackson's mother. "We didn't think we were going to get out alive."

The family, who has been living at the motel for nearly two years, has been temporarily locate to another unit.

A cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Stay with WWJ Newsradio 950 and CBSDetroit.com for the latest.

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