FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) – Severe damage from a fire on the first floor of an apartment building in Fort Lauderdale trapped a woman inside and fire crews worked quick to pull her out. <\/p>\n
Fort Lauderdale Police and Fire Rescue units responded to the area along the 800 block of Northeast 18th Avenue on Friday afternoon. <\/p>\n
Upon arrival, crews found smoke coming from the apartment. Police tried to get into the apartment, but firefighters were there and rushed to save her.<\/p>\n
When crews entered, they found an unconscious woman in the living room. <\/p>\n
Paramedics quickly rushed her to a local hospital. Her condition is unknown.<\/p>\n
Brianna Oliveira lives in the fourplex apartment building and told 7News she was outside when the fire began and tried to warn her neighbor. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I heard a pop and then I smelled smoke. But I thought somebody maybe was just like cooking something or like a firework,\u201d said Oliveira. \u201cI saw the black smoke coming through the back window and I\u2019m like, \u2018Oh my gosh.\u2019 So then I went in the front to try to go bang on the girl\u2019s door,\u201d said Oliveira.<\/p>\n
At one point, Oliveira injured her voice trying to alert the woman. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m like crying and praying, and I\u2019m like, \u2018Lord, please like, you know, I\u2019m about to cry right now, but I just hope she\u2019s OK,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She said the woman was speaking from inside the home when the first first broke out. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe couldn\u2019t like make out exactly what she was saying. She was just like help me like that. Like literally my body went into like fight or flight immediately. It\u2019s so scary,\u201d said Oliveira.<\/p>\n
Fire crews said the situation was tricky upon their arrival. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have somebody that\u2019s unconscious, it\u2019s like a rag dog and it\u2019s very tough to not injure the person while you\u2019re trying to get them out, not to mention the buildings are on fire and we have to get them to our paramedics as soon as you can because you know she\u2019s probably one or two minutes away from just going completely unconscious, probably dying,\u201d said Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue Assistant Fire Chief Tim Heiser<\/p>\n
Heiser praised the rescue crew for saving the woman. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey did really good job, a really good job with resuscitation. They administered some medicine that we give to burn victims to help them get the cyanide and whatnot out of their blood. And they did tell me that she was a little more cognitive in the back of the rescue truck,\u201d said Heiser.<\/p>\n
Oliveira said her two cats were rescued, too.<\/p>\n
The damage was mainly in the kitchen, where firefighters had to get through to save the victim. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a rarity that when we have an apartment like this that\u2019s so involved with fire to get a victim out and actually they\u2019re still alive. So it\u2019s very big for the rescuers because we don\u2019t get victories all the time,\u201d said Heiser<\/p>\n
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.<\/p>\n
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