FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - Good Samaritans quickly called firefighters when flames overtook a boat in a matter of seconds on a Fort Lauderdale canal.
Angelina Ferrari, 11, said she was eating breakfast when she heard something beeping.
“I was eating my breakfast, and I hear the tiny sound of a fire alarm. ‘Beep, beep, beep,’ fire!” she said.
The beeping was a warning sign of a boat erupting in flames.
“I go inside, I tell Dad, ‘There is a fire starting,’ and he runs outside, drops everything,” explained Angelina.
Her father said he went right to work and called 911.
“Yes, she saved us, she saved us,” said Tony.
The proud father said his daughter’s amazing hearing of the alarm may have saved the entire neighborhood.
“I couldn’t hear anything!” said Tony.
Angelina said her father took out a water hose and sprayed the fire before firefighters arrived.
“He gets the hose, he starts the hose, and putting in on the fire. It helps the fire a little bit,” said Angelina. “You hear the slight sound of glass breaking. ‘Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!’ The fire releases this big cloud of black smoke everywhere!”
Firefighters quickly rushed to the canal behind Whale Harbor Lane to contain the flames.
“The fire department comes in with big hose and goes, ‘Swwwwishs,'” said Angelina.
Neighbors were worried about the nearby boats and homes on the canal.
“It was crazy. It was intense. My heart sank. I was freaked out,” said neighbor Ian Wallick.
Angelina said, when people started noticing the fire, she and her dad had already called for help.
“Everyone comes outside, ‘Call 911, call 911.’ I’m like, ‘We already did!'” she said.
No neighboring homes or boats were damaged, thanks to the quick response by firefighters and the actions of an 11-year-old.
“Super happy that nobody got hurt,” said Wallick.
The cause of the fire remains unknown.
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