DAVIE, FLA. (WSVN) - Two firefighters had to be transported to the hospital after battling a fire that spread across an apartment building in Davie and forced residents from their homes.
Monday afternoon, Davie Fire Rescue responded to an occupied three-story building at the Cameron Cove Apartments, located at 2601 SW 79th Ave.
Officials said the two firefighters suffered from heat exhaustion and were taken to the hospital as a precaution.
Firefighters said the flames affected nine units.
“We were in the house at my apartment, which is above it, and we were getting ready to leave out, and we heard screams,” said resident Nina Miller, “so we peeked out the door to see if it was kids or something. Soon as I opened the door, I just saw smoke.”
Residen Taylor Jasuta said she rushed home to see if her dog Milah was OK and felt relieved to find her brother was home during the fire.
“That’s the first thing I thought about. I’m a teacher, and it was my first day back at school, so I had to leave in the middle of a work meeting and come home,” Jasuta said. “I’m just happy he was here, and she’s safe.”
“I just heard everybody yelling, so I looked out the window, and it was all black, so I was like, ‘[expletive]. Let’s go, Milah,'” said her brother, Brandon Jasuta.
Laura Jimenez said she was out when the fire started inside her apartment and rushed over, only to discover her cat on the balcony trying to climb out.
“I wasn’t here. I was working. I just came in to all this stuff,” she said. “I was in tears, I just started screaming for her. I just hope my other kitties are fine too.”
Despite the good news of seeing her cat alive and well, Jimenez’s ferret Lion and two other cats, Sophie and Cookie, did not make it.
The American Red Cross said they are offering housing to those displaced.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
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