TAMARAC, FLA. (WSVN) - Officials are investigating a fire that left two people dead at a home in Tamarac that authorities believe may have been being used as an assisted living facility.
7News cameras captured crews at the home, located near Northwest 65th Street and 74th Avenue, inside Vanguard Village, as they boarded up the property, Thursday afternoon.
City officials have deemed the house unsafe for occupancy.
7News has learned the Broward Sheriff’s Office is investigating whether the home was being used as an assisted living facility.
Tamarac Fire Rescue said they received a call around 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday and responded to the scene of the blaze.
“The smoke was billowing. It was just billowing,” said witness Susan Grimes.
An area resident, who identified herself as Stephanie, said she also witnessed the fire.
“We started smelling smoke in our house, and we kind of ran out here when we saw the smoke in our window,” she said. “The smoke was just covering the trees. We couldn’t see through the smoke. It was kind of white and gray, dark smoke.”
Fire crews rushed to help those inside and get the flames under control.
“We did find one fatality here. Another person was gravely injured and was taken as a trauma alert and subsequently has passed away,” said Tamarac Fire Rescue spokesperson Van Schoen.
“It’s heart-wrenching. I mean, my heart is breaking,” said Grimes. “As if there’s not enough going on in the world right now, and to think this happens this close to home.”
7News cameras captured a medical examiner wheeling away one of the bodies as night fell on the community.
Cilla Dawes, who lives inside the home with her mother, said she was returning home from grocery shopping as the fire occurred.
She said she has yet to be in contact with her mother.
“I haven’t heard from her, I don’t know, but as far as I know, she’s not one of the deceased people,” she said.
Dawes said six people live inside the home.
“It’s originally me and my mother there, and then she had other people come to live there,” she said.
While the fire has been extinguished and fire crews have left, investigators spent hours at the scene. They are working with the State Fire Marshal’s Office to determine what caused the blaze.
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