MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A fire erupted early Thursday morning at a mobile home in Miami-Dade County’s Tamiami area.
The fire was reported around 5 a.m. at the University Lakes community in the area of Southwest 127th Avenue and Ninth Street.
The homeowner, Mislady Garcia, says she’s lucky to be alive because she was sleeping when the fire started and woke up after hearing neighbors yelling out, “Fire! Fire! Fire! Get out!”
Fortunately, she was able to get out safely.
Garcia, 62, said she is devastated as her homeowner’s insurance company dropped her because they no longer cover trailers in South Florida.
Video shows her walking through what was left of the home she’s lived in for the past 25 years.
While neighbors were seen trying to help her clean up the mess and make repairs, she said there wasn’t much left she could salvage.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue officials said firefighters responded to the home and discovered the fire quickly spreading to the carport.
While they were able to put the fire out before it spread to neighboring homes, Garcia believes it may have sparked from a battery she left charging outside of her front door.
Fortunately, Garcia was not injured. She said she plans to stay with her mother in the meantime.
While she is devastated to have lost much of her personal belongings, she said she is just fortunate to have her life.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.