MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A Milwaukee family is facing a double dose of heartbreak. First, a fire tore through their home early Monday morning near N. 27th St. Then, when the family returned to the duplex next door, owned by their grandmother, they discovered it had been broken into.

Firefighters were dispatched to the home at 1:13 a.m. and found heavy flames on the second floor. The blaze was so intense they had to fight it from outside. The fire was eventually brought under control, but it spread to the duplex next door.

“My grandmother woke up hearing loud popping, cracking from the wood burning. She came and woke me up and I got my sisters and nephews out of the house,” said Shaylen Boyd, a member of the family.

The fire reached the attic and damaged the side of the duplex. The family stayed outside for hours in cold temperatures before the Red Cross helped them find a safe place to stay.

When Boyd returned with an inspector, he noticed someone had broken into the duplex.

“I noticed someone had broken in and got a bunch of valuable things,” he said.

TVs, important documents, and even a snowblower were taken. Boyd believes squatters may have been inside when the fire started, noting, “I’ve seen a few times going in and out, but it obviously never got to this much of an extreme, with the fire. It’s cold out, they’re just looking for a place to stay.”

Milwaukee police were called to the scene, and windows and doors were boarded up. The family says everyone made it out of the house safely, and authorities are still investigating the fire and break-in.