Savannah Epstein woke her boyfriend up and told him they needed to leave their apartment, the house next to them was on fire.

Epstein says at 4 a.m. she heard people breaking into house. She began hearing more noise from the house two hours later.

“It was scary,” Epstein said. “I was more worried that our house was going to catch fire and we were going to lose everything.”

Joseph Bruce was hoping to beat the morning gym rush when he stumbled upon the blaze. He saw one firetruck trying to battle the then little flame and parked his car to watch as more firefighters arrived.

“It’s been going for a long time,” Bruce said. “It keeps catching on and going out and coming back on. It’s pretty crazy.”

Chico Fire Department eventually defeated the fire and everyone affected by the morning’s events were able to return home.

George Johnston can be reached at [email protected] or @gjohnston786 on Twitter.