NORTHEAST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A Northeast Miami-Dade resident came to the rescue of children who became trapped in their Northeast Miami-Dade apartment after a fire broke out in the building, forcing two families out of their homes.
Cellphone video captured the frantic scene as Miami-Dade Fire Rescue raced against the clock to keep the flames from spreading further at the complex located along the 18900 block of Northeast Second Avenue, Saturday morning.
Among those surprised to find the building on fire was resident Juan Meneses.
“As soon as I opened my door, a big cloud of smoke hit me,” he said.
Officials said the blaze began in a second-floor unit.
Before crews arrived, neighbors like Meneses leaped into action — literally. He jumped from his third-floor balcony to another.
“I heard somebody screaming, and I saw the kids,” he said. “I pretty much jumped from our balcony to next door and then onto their balcony. I grabbed the youngest one.”
“I was so scared, scared thinking about my kids,” said their mother, Enide Geffrard.
The fire was gaining momentum, so Meneses had no time to think — just act.
“It was tough, so I just tried my best to get the youngest one over,” he said.
The children Meneses rescued, ages 15, 10 and nine years old, were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment and released.
Geffrard, who said she and her loved ones lost everything in the fire, expressed her gratitude toward everyone who helped save her children’s lives.
“I said, ‘Thank you, God.’ I cannot say, ‘Why me?'” she said. “I said, ‘Thank you, God,’ because the most important thing for me is my kids, my husband and me.”
Once crews responded, the blaze was quickly escalated to a second-alarm fire.
Cellphone footage showed a firefighter bringing a woman down a ladder from her second-floor unit.
Crews were able to extinguish the flames, and the building was saved — but the interior and exterior damage is devastating to the families who call this place home and are now forced to start over.
“I lost everything: clothes, our furniture, everything is, like, messed up,” said Geffrard.
The cleanup turned into a community effort. Residents said family members, friends and even a landlord came to help.
Officials said two units are completely unlivable. However, the families said their landlord put them up in vacant apartments in the building.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.