SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A kitchen fire broke out early Tuesday morning at a Southwest Miami-Dade apartment, prompting a response from 12 Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units.
Firefighters arrived at 7:46 a.m. near the 15300 block of SW 106th Terrace to find heavy smoke and flames coming from the apartment’s kitchen.
Crews quickly brought the fire under control, remaining on the scene to extinguish hot spots and ventilate the area to clear lingering smoke.
Renny Gonzalez lives above the apartment that caught fire.
“I think they were trying to cook something, and it caught on fire, and they lost control,” said Gonzalez.
He tried to help his downstairs neighbor once the flames broke out around 7:45 am on Christmas Eve.
“It was a lot of smoke, so you couldn’t see much. And we try to do what we can to help, but thankfully, the fire crew came in here pretty quick, and they were able to get it under control,” said Gonzalez.
Despite MDFR’s fast response, Renny’s apartment still received some damage.
“We just got some smoke damage and just cleaning up,” he said.
Unfortunately for Orlando Garcia, who lives on the first floor, the damage is worse.
“My furniture, my Christmas tree, my presents, Christmas presents, also, they are all damaged,” said Garcia.
He said his mattress is soaked and there’s a hole in his ceiling.
The commotion from the firefighters battling the blaze woke Garcia up.
“The fire trucks outside and then I went, went to look over there, was a lot of black smoke coming out,” he said.
Now he’s leaving to spend the holidays at a place where he can sleep.
“I think I’m going to go to my mom’s house to sleep over there because if you go inside, the smell is horrible. Smells horrible,” said Garcia.
One person was treated at the scene but did not require hospitalization.
Firefighters are urging everyone home for the holidays to take extra precautions.
“Please remember never leave your cooking unattended. Statistics actually show that unattended cooking is the number one cause of house fires in the country,” said MDFR Chief of Staff Erika Benitez.
The American Red Cross was called to assist those displaced by the blaze.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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