Multiple fatalities after small plane crashes into San Diego neighborhood

(SAN DIEGO) — There have been multiple fatalities after a small plane crashed in a neighborhood of San Diego on Thursday morning, spewing jet fuel and starting a large fire that damaged at least 15 homes and multiple cars, fire officials said.

None of the residents in any houses were taken to the hospital and it appears all the fatalities are from the plane itself, San Diego Assistant Fire Chief of Emergency Operations Dan Eddy said at a press conference on Thursday. Officials do not yet know how many people were aboard the plane.

Multiple homes have been destroyed and there is one car fire that “will not go out no matter what we put on it,” according to Eddy, who said earlier the crash site looked “like a movie scene.”

Responders are currently searching for victims and parts of the plane as the response continues.

Residents were being evacuated to a nearby school and will be going home to home to find out if there is anybody inside, Eddy said.

“I was half-asleep and I saw a flash at the window and heard a bang,” said Jennifer Hoffman, who lives a couple blocks from the crash. “I thought it was lightning to be honest, I even checked the weather to see if it was raining out. And then I heard like bunches of pops and I was like, ‘That can’t be lightning.’ I went downstairs, I checked outside and I saw the neighborhood behind us was bright red. It was awful.”

The plane directly hit multiple homes and cars, setting them ablaze, before running down the street, Eddy said.

The small private jet crashed seconds before landing at about 3:45 am. local time, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The plane was flying from Wichita, Kansas, to San Diego’s Montgomery Gibbs Executive Airport when it crashed. It was roughly 500 feet in the air at its last radar check-in, according to the FAA.

“A Cessna 550 crashed near Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport in California, around 3:45 a.m.local time on Thursday, May 22. The number of people on board is unknown at this time,” the FAA said in a statement.

There was no mayday call before this crash. The last communication was the pilot announcing on the radio that he was 3 miles out and landing. The tower was closed at the time and this is standard procedure.

Residents have been instructed to avoid the area near near Sculpin Street and Santo Road as crews work.

ABC News’ Sam Sweeney and Ayesha Ali contributed to this report.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.