Moundsville's Assistant Fire Chief Ron Walker said a state fire marshal helped crews sift through the remains of the building.

Fire destroyed the Simmons Apartments early Wednesday morning, and Walker said it's believed that the flames may have originated from a back porch of one of the complexes.

"We're looking to see if it's anything suspicious in nature or whether it might have been one of the outside utilities," Walker said.

NEWS9 also talked with a woman trapped on the top floor of a massive apartment building fire.

Christel Hartfile said it was only a few minutes before her family was rescued, but it felt like forever.

Hartfile stood in the aftermath Wednesday afternoon, watching as the place she called home was being demolished.

Hartfile was one of several who were rescued from the blaze. She said she was with her fiancé and two daughters, trapped on the top floor.

"It just seemed like it took forever and my girls, they were so scared," Hartfile said about her daughters, ages 8 and 11.

The family was sleeping when flames broke out in the rear of the Second Street building. She said a neighbor, James Craney, pounded on the door to wake them.

"If it wasn’t for him this morning, we probably would have been gone," she said, "It's just scary."

While some residents jumped to safety, badly injuring themselves, Hartfile's family waited for help.

"We couldn’t even get out of our doors. We had to go out a three-story window," she said. "Everybody was outside and we couldn’t get out. It was just like, 'Are we going to get out?'"

As the blaze raged on, quickly taking over each unit in the building, Hartfile said firefighters extended a ladder to their window. Her daughters went down, first, then her, and then lastly her fiancé escaped.

Only then did she have a chance to look back and take in what was happening.

"We lost everything -- everything we have. Everything we've ever owned was in there," she said.

Seven people were transported to the hospital and it took 13 fire departments 3 1/2 hours to get the blaze under control.

The American Red Cross and the Salvation Army were assisting at the scene, and the Red Cross set up a response unit in the Moundsville Council Chambers with food, water and debit cards to help the victims.

Red Cross officials said three families had stopped by as of noon, and said at least one victim plans to stay with family. They said they hope the others will also come by for help.

Stay with NEWS9 and WTOV9.com for continuing coverage.

Previous Stories: April 29, 2009: Apartment Fire Victims Jump To Safety