MIAMI (WSVN) - Two Miami couples received a rude awakening after fast-moving flames erupted at their duplex.
Ten City of Miami Fire Rescue units responded to the scene near the corner of Southwest 29th Avenue and 24th Terrace, Sunday morning.
Cellphone video captured heavy smoke and flames billowing from the duplex.
Inside one of the units were Genesis Crespo and her husband, Ramiro Garcia.
“I was not sleeping, because my husband was sleeping, and it could be worse,” she said.
Crespo said their neighbors, an elderly couple, banged on their door to warn them.
“Suddenly, the neighbors were knocking on the door and telling me that everything was burning,” she said.
“Everybody was screaming. That was crazy, bro,” said Garcia, “and at this time, you know, everybody is sleeping. Now, I don’t know. I gotta look for a new house again.”
The couples managed to evacuate the duplex without injuries.
“Everything is burning. I don’t know; my things are burning, too,” said Crespo.
“When I go out, I see all that, I was in shock, really,” said Garcia. “That was insane, because now I don’t have a house, everything is dark there, the house is smoking.”
“The cat, I haven’t seen her, and the birds that I have in the backyard,” said the elderly woman who lives in the unit next to Crespo and Garcia, as she spoke through a translator. “I haven’t seen them, because the smoke didn’t let me get through to see them.”
None of the residents were hurt, but the elderly couple’s pet birds did not survive.
Pictures taken by Miami Fire Rescue in the aftermath of the fire showed extensive damage to the property.
“I don’t know anything, but I’m glad that everybody here is alive, and we can continue with our lives,” said Crespo.
As officials investigate the cause of the blaze, the Red Cross is assisting Crespo and Garcia. The elderly couple is staying with family.
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