KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- With less than a week to go before Thanksgiving, the Red Cross is helping a family find a place to stay after a fire struck their house on Friday afternoon.

The homeowner told KCTV5's Eric Chaloux that he wonders if his daughter's space heater might have sparked the fire that gutted the family of nine's home, at the corner of 13th Street and Oakland Avenue.

Fire and smoke were discovered in the house at about 2 p.m., fire officials said. Kevin Alexander was home with his cousin and two small children when they saw flames shooting out from a back bedroom.

Both adults tried to put the fire out, but it got out of hand.

"I was just scared," Alexander said. "I don't know what it could be. We just ran back there and tried to do what we could. (We) got the kids out and made sure they were OK and then tried to do what we could. We couldn't do nothing, so we did the best thing and called the fire department."

The official cause of the fire has not been determined.