NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Tenants at a North Little Rock apartment shared their experiences as they managed to escape a deadly apartment fire early Tuesday morning.

North Little Rock police and the North Little Rock Fire Department responded to Shorter College Garden Apartments around 2:22 a.m. Gabrielle Madison and Raven Dorrough were two of the tenants that were able to escape.

“I saw flames coming from the side of the building. I hear people screaming so my first instinct is to wake everybody in the house up,” Dorrough said. “My kids, her kids and get everyone away as quick as possible. I didn’t know what would happen if the fire spread. I thought it was going to connect to our apartment.”

Madison described what she felt by not being able to help those in need of help during the fire.

“It was actually very emotional, especially when you’re hearing somebody scream for help, but there’s nothing you can do because you can’t reach them,” she said.

Though Madison and Dorrough were able to escape the fire, some others were not able to. North Little Rock police confirmed that the fire claimed the lives of three people. All the victims were adults, police confirmed.

“I hate that they didn’t get a chance to get out because it was too late for any of us to try to get them out,” Madison said. “Nobody could get in because all the doors was locked and with these being elderly people, they can only move so fast,” Dorrough added.

Police have not identified the victims at this time.