NORTH MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Nearly a dozen rescue units helped extinguish a fire that engulfed several apartments in North Miami Beach.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and North Miami Beach Police were called to the area of Northeast 167th Street and 18th Avenue, just after 5 a.m., Wednesday.
7News spoke with a neighbor at the scene who said she was awoken by loud banging as officials told everybody to evacuate.
“So I got up, I grabbed the dog real fast, and I got my son up,” said Connie Palenque. “I didn’t know what was going on. We were looking and I didn’t see no fire at first, but when you walked around the corner, you see the fire on top of the roof.”
Palenque said she suffered an asthma attack as a reaction to the smoke.
“This is crazy, man. I would never expect this to happen,” said Palenque. “I’ve seen it happen to many people, [but] to happen to you — it’s more crazy.”
A man who lived in one of the two units that were badly damaged said he believes the fire started somewhere on the roof or in the ceiling.
“I got out pretty quick. I saw a small light but when the fire department come the fire was bigger,” said Robinson Rojas. “Imagine sleeping and you wake up with fire in your room.”
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue determined the cause of the fire was due to a hot tar kettle left on since Tuesday on the roof of the apartment building.
“Apparently there was some roof construction going on during the day, and there was a tar kettle pot that still was on for some reason,” MDFR Lt. Kirsten Miller said.
One tenant of the building was displaced from the fire.
There were no transports after the fire, according to rescue crews on scene.
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