MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Several families were forced from their homes after a fire broke out at an apartment building in Miami Beach, early Sunday morning.
The flames began on a ninth-floor balcony of the Ocean Blue, located near Collins Avenue and 76th Street. “I was sleeping, and then [I heard] the fire alarm,” said resident Marilee Lenzina. “Nothing happens here, so I thought it was a false alarm, and it was 15 minutes, 20 minutes until the guy gets on the microphone and says we have to come down, it’s an emergency.”
Resident Camila Olmedo described the fire. “On the ninth floor, one of the rooms on the terrace, there was a big flame,” she said.
As fire crews rushed to the scene, those inside were evacuated.
Fortunately, everyone made it out safely, but some residents weren’t thrilled to feel the chill of South Florida’s cold front. “I feel freezing,” said Olmedo.
“It’s cold out here,” echoed resident Yvonne Hunt. “We woke up at 6 in the morning to be told there was a fire, on the coldest night of the year.”
Crews kept the flames from spreading inside, but the once burning balcony was left scorched.
Residents were later allowed to return to their homes.
There were no reported injuries.
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