An elderly couple was treated for smoke inhalation after a fire ripped through their Davie townhouse Tuesday morning.
The fire was reported around 8:30 a.m. at the building at 3701 Southwest 60th Terrace.
"I heard this beeping sound, you know, didn't know what it was, I come out to get the newspaper and there's smoke all over the place," neighbor George Cornish said.
When firefighters arrived, they found heavy flames and smoke in one of the bedrooms, where the fire started, Davie Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Jorge Gonzalez said.
Footage from the scene showed smoke pouring out of a second-story window of the building as a firefighter knocked out the glass from another second story window.
Cornish said the couple escaped the flames before firefighters got there.
"Then I saw the two of them coming out of the house so I said 'you need to get out of there and come over here,'" Cornish said. "So I just grabbed them and brought them over to my place."
The elderly couple who lives there, Michelle Turcotte Loro and her husband Larry Loro, were next door when firefighters arrived and were being checked out for smoke inhalation, Gonzalez said.
"They can barely walk. As soon as I saw them coming out, I took them over to my house, set them down, tried to calm them down. She was extremely distraught, crying afraid that the cats were in there," Cornish said.
Cornish said his neighbors had some old fans plugged in upstairs and investigators said that may have been what sparked the fire.
"It appears to be electrical in nature and the fire was put out in approximately 10 minutes," said Chris Welling, with the Davie Fire Department.
According to Cornish, the couple said a recent building inspection may have helped save their lives.
"They got brand new smoke detectors, otherwise they would've been asleep and that's really what probably saved their lives," Cornish said.
Fire inspectors were at the scene early Tuesday trying to determine the cause of the fire.
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