There is heavy damage after a fire at a house on the northeast corner of Bridgeport Road East and Regina Street late Wednesday morning.

Crews were called to the scene around 10:30 a.m. amid reports of black smoke billowing from the two-story building.

Traffic was backed up in the area as roads were closed to allow firefighters from three stations to battle the blaze and search the multi-unit residence to ensure no one was inside.

John Percy, the Waterloo Fire Department's information officer, says "At the time of the fire there was [somebody in there] but we can say safely say everyone got out safely, there's no injuries at this time."

Bystander John Murphy says he saw the flames and kicked in doors in the building to see if any assistance was needed before emergency crews arrived.

"I went and kicked all the doors in, there was nobody in there, I ran upstairs I could barely breathe but there was nobody in there."

While most residents were out, Todd Jalbert was asleep inside a unit at the back of the building after a long night at work. He got out safely.

He says "I heard the engines pull up, I could smell the smoke, and I knew the fire was either close by or was happening in our building."

Firefighters continued to battle hotspots from the roof and inside the building for nearly three hours before the blaze was finally out, but Percy says the weather was on their side.

"When a fire gets into a house, it gets very challenging. Once it gets into the walls, specifically a roof area, now the firefighters have to put the fire out from the inside."

Sections of both Bridgeport and Regina remained closed for much of the day as the clean-up and investigation continued.

Some residents of the five-unit dwelling have returned to pick up what's left of their belongings and officials say they will need to find alternate accommodations.

Jalbert says he'll be okay, but "I'm not sure about the other residents. I think they're pretty hard hit."

Investigators were also asking residents about where they were and what they were doing, trying to identify the cause of the fire.

Preliminary estimates put the damage at over $150,000.

It appears smoke detectors were working in this case, and Percy is reminding people to have working fire alarms on all floors of a home and families that they should have an escape plan.