Miami Gardens

Miami Gardens couple who died in massive house fire remembered as peaceful and hard-working

"It’s a huge loss and I still haven’t processed it all the way," the couple's friend and neighbor said.

Neighbors are remembering a husband and wife who died after a fire broke out at their Miami Gardens home as peaceful and hard-working.

Family and neighbors identified the victims as Ronda Spencer-Fordham and Tim Fordham, who died Wednesday morning.

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"I’m still processing the loss. I haven’t been hit as yet," Clayton Fullerton said. "There was nothing negative about them. They were very good neighbors."

Fullerton lives across the street from the couple’s home on Northwest 185th Terrace when a fire broke out around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday.

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"The whole house was engulfed in fire. It’s still a shock," he said.

Tamonjamin Williams, who escaped from a separate living area in the back of the home, spent hours outside holding onto hope that his aunt Ronda Spencer-Fordham and his uncle Tim Fordham would make it out alive. NBC6's Chernéy Amhara reports.

Investigators were at the home Thursday, digging through the ash and debris left behind, trying to figure out what caused the massive fire.

Fullerton says they heard loud noises in the middle of the night, then saw the blaze.

"We heard the explosions. Once we heard the explosions, and we opened the curtains and looked, we saw a great fire, and then we just couldn’t believe it," he said. "By the time we get outside, we assumed that they probably wouldn’t make it if they didn’t get out of the house, so we’re still in shock about that."

Fullerton says Tim did repair work and Ronda worked for Miami-Dade Water and Sewer.

Officials say the only person who survived the fire was the couple’s nephew. Fullerton says he was just hanging out with Tim on Tuesday night, hours before the fire.

"It’s a huge loss and I still haven’t processed it all the way," he said. "Although I’m looking at it, right now the house. He knows my family, I know his family. It still hurts cause we do a lot of stuff together.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

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