LAUDERHILL. Fla. – A fire at a Broward County apartment building forced residents from their homes Thursday night and left two people injured, including a baby.
The fire was reported shortly after 8:30 p.m. on the fourth floor of the Inverrary Club Apartments at 2600 NW 56th Ave. in Lauderhill.
According to Lauderhill Deputy Fire Chief Jeff Levy, firefighters arrived at the scene to find heavy smoke coming from the building as it was being evacuated.
“I did hear screams and stuff, so I thought it was a fight, so I stuck my head out the door to see what was going on –- then that’s when I seen black smoke,” resident Deezinnia Smith said.
It took crews from Lauderhill, as well as Sunrise Fire Rescue and Tamarac Fire Rescue, nearly 45 minutes to extinguish the flames.
According to Levy, two people suffered burn injuries, including a baby who suffered a minor burn to the arm and was treated at the scene.
He said a woman suffered second-degree burns to her arm and was transported by Lauderhill Fire Rescue to Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale in stable condition.
“The fire was contained to one apartment, but three other apartments suffered water damage,” Levy said in an email to Local 10 News. “The American Red Cross was requested to provide assistance to the occupants of all four apartments.”
The American Red Cross confirmed Friday morning that they were assisting 22 people, including 13 children by “providing emergency financial assistance, health and mental health services (and) one-on-one support to connect people to available recovery assistance.”
The Lauderhill Fire Marshals Office and State Fire Marshals Office are investigating the cause of the fire.