MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A fire erupted early Thursday morning at an apartment building in Miami Beach, and a charging scooter may be to blame.
Miami Beach firefighters rushed to the St. George Apartments on Euclid Avenue around 3:30 a.m.
Crews say they got the fire under control a short time after arriving at the scene, and the fire was contained to one unit.
One tenant, Ilhan Korkmaz, told Local 10 News that he plugged his scooter in to charge around 1 a.m. and two hours later, he got a call that there was a fire inside his apartment.
Another tenant, Lauren Devico, lives next door to Korkmaz and said she rushed out of the building in fear that her unit would catch fire too.
“(I) grabbed my cat, put her in the case and ran downstairs,” Lauren Devico said. “There was a group of guys -- they were walking by. They just started banging, ‘Open this door right here to see if anyone was inside.’ Luckily there wasn’t. The door opened and smoke everywhere.”
No injuries were reported.
Miami Beach Fire Rescue officials said 15 residents were evacuated and the power was cut off to the building as a precaution.
Officials with the Building Department will investigate later in the day to determine whether residents will be allowed back in.
The official cause of the fire is under investigation.