Flames destroyed a home in Yonkers overnight.

Fire officials say the flames broke out around 3 a.m. at a home at 37 Storey Lane in Yonkers. They say that luckily the homeowners had working smoke detectors which woke them up and allowed them to all get out safely.

It took about 50 firefighters close to 40 minutes to knock down the flames. Crews say there was some water pressure problems at first, and they had trouble getting to the room where the fire broke out.

"It's a long narrow corridor with a lot of items in the way, it took us a while to get to the room," says Yonkers Assistant Fire Chief Robert Antulov.

Crews fought the smoke and flames from the ground and up on the roof.

Investigators tell News 12 it appears that an air conditioning unit that overheated or short circuited is the cause.

Kevin Maher says he and his six brothers and sisters grew up in the house beginning in 1965. He says one of his brothers, a sister and their 90-year-old mother still lived there until the fire broke out today. Maher says his brother told him the flames moved through the second floor quickly. "He goes, 'Kevin, it had to be about 60 seconds, the place just went up,'" says Maher.

With such a big family in the area, the ones that lived there have plenty of places to stay as the cleanup and repairs are already underway.