EAST ORANGE — Five people, including one child, are unaccounted for after a blaze ripped through several homes on North 17th Street this morning, according to a city spokeswoman.

East Orange spokeswoman Connie Jackson said emergency crews were called to the scene just after 6 a.m. Strong winds were blowing through the area at the time. The fire started at 16 North 17th Street, Jackson said, and spread to two neighboring homes.

Jackson said a woman was rescued from the third floor of the home where the fire started. That woman suffered from minor smoke inhalation, she said.

Six people lived in the home, according to Jackson, and four adults and one child are still unaccounted for.

The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office and East Orange fire department are investigating the blaze.

The three homes damaged in the fire are uninhabitable, Jackson said. The home at 14 North 17th Street was vacant, she said, and one person lived at the home at 18 North 17th Street. That person escaped without injuries, Jackson said.