POMPANO BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A fire has left a Pompano Beach family with holiday heartbreak after their house and everything in it was destroyed.
The family, including an amputee, lived at the house near Northwest 15th Court and Seventh Avenue. Now they’re left to wonder what they’ll do after losing their home, Monday.
“I heard the crackle and the pop,” said victim Dean Gilbert.
According to Fire Rescue, the blaze began in a side room where the carport is located before it spread to the rest of the house, trapping some of the residents inside
His roommate said she heard the noises before realizing the house was on fire.
“The glass was shattering and breaking, so I ran out the room to see what’s going on,” she said. “I see fire coming at me, so I’m like, ‘Dean, Dean, there’s a fire in the house! I don’t know what to do. I gotta get out the window. It’s coming my way.'”
That woman said she jumped out the window. However, Gilbert is an amputee and was trapped.
“I rolled out when she’s hollering, ‘The smoke, smoke, smoke,’ and ‘fire, fire,’ and I just took off,” the elderly victim said. “I went down the hallway, and I couldn’t get out ’cause it’s blocked, so I went back to the room, and I opened my window and started hollering.”
Two neighbors pulled Gilbert out of the window and to safety.
The fire also spread to a neighboring home, forcing that family to flee as well.
“I was in the room and he was like, ‘The house caught on fire,’ and he said, ‘Kisha, get out. Come on, the house is on fire,’ but it was the house next door,” said neighbor Kisha Jones. “The wind was blowing the fire this way.”
Now, Gilbert and four of his roommates are displaced.
The Jones family who live next door said they’re unsure of what’s next.
“Now we just — we don’t know. Our house isn’t livable, it’s just too much,” Jones said.
Despite the damage, Jones’ house is not a total loss and can be repaired.
This incident happened just one week before Christmas Day.
“Well, there’s a saying, ‘I’m up the creek without a paddle,'” Gilbert said.
The Red Cross is now helping Gilbert who is now staying at a hotel. He said he’s not sure how long it will last.
The cause of the fire is now under investigation.
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