LYNN — Jin Man raced up the stairs of his triple-decker around 3 a.m. Tuesday, knocking on doors and shouting for his neighbors to get out fast. The house was on fire.

“I called everyone to come down,’’ said Man, 44. “I was yelling, ‘We all have to go!’?’’

Moments before, a third-floor resident had called Man to report that smoke was pouring from “the top of the ceiling,’’ Man said.

Man, a native of Cambodia, recalled the harrowing events hours later, as a steady rain fell. The three-alarm fire heavily damaged the Lowell Street home, which Man has owned since 2005.

Sixteen people, a mix of children and adults from Cambodia, the Dominican Republic, and Guatemala, were left homeless by the fire. There were no injuries to residents.

A Lynn firefighter was released from the hospital after being treated for heat exhaustion, officials said.

The state Fire Marshal’s office determined the cause of the fire was electrical and started above the third-floor ceiling, spokeswoman Jennifer Mieth said.

There were smoke alarms in the building, a Lynn fire official said. Man said alarms were installed on each floor and worked properly during the fire.

Elsa Vasquez, 41, said she was awakened by her husband after he heard Man’s shouts. She quickly wrapped her 1-year-old daughter, Emily, in a blanket and fled the house, walking a few blocks to her sister’s apartment.

“He saved our lives, practically,’’ Vasquez said of Man.

Her other daughter, Estefani, 16, stayed with her father outside the home, watching as black smoke and flames broke through the roof.

“It was scary,’’ she said, her pajamas soiled by soot and soaked by rain.

The fire was reported at 3:21 a.m., officials said. The location of the house, set back from the street behind two other triple-deckers, made it difficult to reach, District Fire Chief Michael McBride said.

“It looked like access could have been an issue,’’ he said. “The guys did a great job.’’

The fire was largely contained to the area between the roof and third-floor ceiling, McBride said, but burned into one of the bedrooms. Smoke and water damaged all three apartments.

The damage was estimated at $150,000, Mieth said.

Man, who met with insurance adjusters Tuesday, hopes to repair the house.

The American Red Cross is helping residents find temporary housing. On Tuesday morning, the group handed out bags filled with toothpaste, razors, and other toiletries.

Residents were later allowed to retrieve clothes and other belongings from their homes.

Estefani Vasquez and Yuri Miranda watched grimly as two cousins carried trash bags filled with clothes out of their apartment. The girls said they were not sure how many of their belongings could be saved.

“Everything was so soggy in my room,’’ said Vasquez, who will be a junior at Lynn Classical High School this fall. “All my clothes, papers, my bears.’’

Her collection of 30 stuffed bears started when she was a baby, she said.

“I guess I could try to clean them,’’ she said.

For now, the girls will stay with their aunt.

“But my mother knows we can’t stay there forever,’’ Estefani Vasquez said. “We’ll need a new apartment soon.’’

Kathy McCabe can be reached at Katherine.McCabe@ globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @GlobeKMcCabe.