NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Officials are investigating a large fire that broke out inside an apartment building Sunday night in North Miami Beach, forcing dozens of families to evacuate.
The fire occurred shortly after 8 p.m. at the Suncoast Place Apartments, located at 999 NE 167th St.
“Ten to 15 minutes after we left the house, the fire started,” Chandan Chowdhury told Local 10 News Monday. “Somebody called me (and said) the fire had started from my house.”
Chowdhury lives in the apartment with his wife and their 17-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter.
“The fire started from the AC unit,” he said. “I was on the way to Orlando for a family vacation.”
The family’s vacation wasn’t the only thing ruined, as the majority of their apartment unit was destroyed in the fire.
But Chowdhury says he is grateful they were not home and are alive.
“Thank God we are not in the house,” he said.
Many people say they heard the alarms and saw smoke filling up the hallways after the fire broke out.
“I was in the shower, I was washing my hair, I was hearing banging on the doors,” one tenant told Local 10 News. “I didn’t think much of it until my family screamed and said something so I had to get out. As we were getting out, that’s when we could smell all the smoke.”
People of all ages, including families with children, sat and watched as firefighters went in and out of the building to put the fire out.
“I was in the house with my mom. (I) rushed her out the door, we saw smoke and came out here and we’ve been outside ever since,” one resident said.
Several people were loaded onto stretchers so they could get checked by paramedics.
The official cause of the fire remains under investigation.
“I don’t have any idea what I should do,” Chowdhury said. “I don’t know the next steps.”