KITCHENER -- Officials continue to investigate the cause of a fire that damaged three Waterloo homes, and left a total of eight people displaced.

Fire crews were called to Wasaga Crescent just after 9 p.m. Thursday.

The fire is believed to have started on the second level of one the attached homes, and then spread to the attic and the unit next door.

A third home also had some smoke damage.

Ryan Schubert, the Waterloo Deputy Fire Chief, says everyone who was inside at the time escaped unharmed.

A family of five living in the first home, and a family of three in the second, were displaced.

The two people who live in the third unit were allowed to return.

Schubert says firefighters were on scene until almost 3 a.m.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

The initial damage estimate is over $500,000.