Crews extinguish Hialeah apartment complex fire; 1 transported

HIALEAH, FLA. (WSVN) - Crews have extinguished a fire at an apartment building in Hialeah that, officials said, may have sparked in a resident’s backyard.

Hialeah Fire Rescue responded to reports of a two-alarm fire at the complex along the 5800 block of West 21st Court, just before 6 p.m., Friday.

Resident Alex Sardina was one of several residents who were not allowed back in their homes.

“I know that there’s a couple of apartments that got on fire,” Sardina said. “The good thing is that our apartment did not get extremely damaged, which is the good thing about that, but other ones did. The other issue is now the electricity and the water and all that.”

7Skyforce HD hovered above the scene where smoke could be seen pouring out from the two-story apartment’s roof.

Crews could be seen on the roof trying to put out the fire from above.

Cellphone video posted to Only in Dade’s Instagram page shows flames shooting out of the complex, Friday afternoon.

Because of the narrow streets inside the complex, authorities have had a difficult time getting vehicles in and out of the complex.

Authorities evacuated at least six apartments on the second floor of the complex.

“We have about eight apartment units that have been damaged,” said Hialeah Fire Rescue District Chief David Rodriguez. “It looked like it started in the backyard of either the house or the little backyard of the first floor of the apartment. That’s where [we believe] the fire officially started, when it started to spread into the apartment building, working onto the second floor into the ceiling.”

Fire rescue crews transported a 40-year-old woman to the hospital as a precaution.

However, people were not the only concern of rescue crews.

Officials said that one dog, later identified as Loffee, was retrieved from an apartment and given oxygen.

Dani Barrios, Loffee’s owner, said he is very happy after the canine was retrieved by rescue crews.

“I am happy,” Barrios said. “I’m very, very happy. Very happy.”

Emergency medical technicians in training were also happy the pooch is doing well.

“We provided oxygen, and we tried our best to provide as much care for the dog as we could,” an EMT trainee said.

“It fills my heart because I know that the owners wanted the dog to be alive,” another EMT trainee said.

Hours after the blaze was put out, Hialeah Police could be seen on West 60th Street with their lights on.

7News cameras captured a Florida Power and Light truck trying to restore power to the affected homes in the area.

Representatives from the American Red Cross could be seen in the parking lot talking to displaced families.

Although officials said the fire could have started from a grill in someone’s backyard, they are still working to determine an official cause.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

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