Four Chattanooga children were trapped on the roof of their burning house Tuesday afternoon but escaped with only minor injuries.

Four Chattanooga children were trapped on the roof of their burning house Tuesday afternoon but escaped with only minor injuries.

Neighbors called 911 while a passerby and three police officers helped lower the kids off the roof.

The fire started around 5 p.m. at 703 Caruthers Road and trapped the four siblings on the second floor, Chattanooga Fire Department public information director Bruce Garner said in a release.

The oldest brother, a 14-year-old boy, kicked out a bedroom window and helped his siblings climb onto the roof. He cut his leg when he broke through the window.

The 14-year-old and one other child were taken to Children's Hospital at Erlanger with nonlife-threatening injuries, Garner said.

Five Chattanooga fire companies responded to the blaze and took 30 minutes to get the fire under control. The fire appeared to have started on the first floor and spread to the second floor and the attic, Battalion Chief Steve Swanson said. The cause is under investigation.

The family was renting the house, which suffered extensive damage, and the father was not home at the time of the fire, Garner said.