Families and residents were evacuated from their homes Friday morning after a fire erupted inside a North Bay Village high-rise building.
Early Friday morning, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded to reports of heavy smoke spewing from a North Bay Village apartment building. Once MDFR crews entered the building, they determined the fire began inside an apartment, possibly in the kitchen, on the fifth floor.
"Anytime you're dealing with a high rise, the scope of the building, the size and the number of occupants is a huge life-safety factor," said MDFR battalion chief.
Firefighters are stressing the importance of smoke detectors, saying the occupants were sleeping when the incident occured and the smoke detector alerted them.
"Smoke detectors save lives — clearly that was demonstrated today," the battalion chief said. "The occupants were sleeping when the incident occurred. They were awoken by the smoke detector and because of that they were able to get out safely."
No injuries were reported, according to the battalion chief.
