Tenants of an Eagle Avenue home destroyed over the weekend sifted through the building's charred remains Monday.

Fire officials say the blaze began inside an air shaft near 662 Eagle Ave. The building will most likely have to be torn down and rebuilt from the ground up. Families who lived in the building say losing their home is a devastating blow to receive in such difficult economic times.

According to a deputy FDNY chief, some of the tenants tied bed sheets onto window guards to escape, but a firefighter was able to rescue them using a 35-foot ladder. More than 100 firefighters were needed to extinguish the blaze.

Eagle Ave. fire destroys three-family home