FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) – Flames tore through a Fort Lauderdale home, prompting first responders to come to the rescue of two people.
According to Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue, units responded to multiple 911 calls about a house fire near the 1400 block of Riverland Road, just after 8 a.m. on Monday.
Video recorded by FLFR shows flames shooting through the windows and the roof of the structure, as well as dark smoke pouring out from the residence and filling the air.
“On arrival, we had heavy smoke, heavy fire showing,” said FLFR Battalion Chief Mike Salzano. “Our companies went in, did an aggressive attack, pretty goof knockdown of the fire.”
Officials said firefighters were able to put out the flames after about a half hour.
Crews rescued two people from the home and transported one of them to the hospital. Paramedics evaluated the other person at the scene for possible smoke inhalation.
Homeowner Sardias Canela said her brother was the occupant who was taken to the hospital.
“He was using candles,” she said. “My brother suffers from a mental illness, bipolar/schizophrenic.”
Canela said the property, which was their deceased mother’s home, is now vacant and in probate, adding her brother wasn’t supposed to be there.
“I’d just fixed the garage door; [my brother] did it three years ago and now again,” she said.
“The fire did vent through the roof, so we’ve got a pretty sizable hole in the roof,” said Salzano. “The house is pretty destroyed at this point.”
Now Canela is left to clean up the mess
“Makes me feel hopeless, makes me feel alone, so I am just going to sell it,” she said.
Canela’s brother is expected to be OK.
Officials are attempting to determine the official cause of this fire.
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