Investigators are working to find what started a fire at an apartment building in Fort Lauderdale that forced residents to evacuate.
Flames and smoke could be seen for blocks outside the Tennis Club Apartments Tuesday at about 7:20 p.m., as a fire burned on the fourth floor of a building.
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WATCH HERE“It’s flames, it’s on fire and it’s coming down to the fourth floor, which is where I live,” said one man on the phone with 911. “I’m getting myself and getting out of the room.“
He grabbed his passport and ran out of his home, alerting his neighbors along the way.
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“I’m knocking on the doors,” he said.
The 911 dispatcher replied,” To your knowledge is anyone injured? We have multiple units responding, OK?“
“I said everyone get out of the building and all our neighbors were helping each other to try and get out of the building,” said one woman who evacuated.
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Fire crews arrived at the 24-unit building to find heavy smoke and fire. They made sure the building was empty, then put out the flames.
Dozens of people waited in the street with a few belongings, as crews fought to contain the fire to a storage area.
“After about 45 minutes of attacking the fire, we were able to call it under control and contain it to the origin,” said Chief Steve Gollan with Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue.
Gollan says no one was injured, no homes were damaged and no one was displaced. People were allowed back into their units before midnight, as fire crews contained the flames to the storage area.
Some residents were concerned about whether the fire alarms were working. Gollan said the fire alarms are manual, and no one pulled down on them to activate them.
There are automatic sensor alarms activated by heat, but the fire never got close enough to them to set them off.
