HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – One person has died after a fire erupted early Friday morning inside a trailer that was parked in a mobile home community in Hallandale Beach, authorities confirmed.
According to Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Michael Kane, the fire was reported at about 12:30 a.m. at the Seville Mobile Home Park, located at 513 NE Fourth Ave.
Noon report:
“It was about 12 a.m. and I heard a bang,” neighbor Pamela Whitney said. “I thought it was a car backfiring, so I looked outside. It was really loud. I opened the door and then there’s flames everywhere. I never saw anything like that in my life.”
Kane said firefighters arrived at the scene and found the trailer fully engulfed in flames with heavy smoke visible.
“Firefighters aggressively fought back fierce flames bringing the fire under control within 15 minutes and fully extinguishing it within 20 minutes,” Kane said in an email to Local 10 News. “Their efforts successfully prevented the fire from spreading to two adjacent mobile homes, which were saved from significant damage.”
Video taken at the scene shows the trailer with a tow hitch at the front and two propane tanks attached to it.
Kane confirmed that one person who was inside the trailer at the time has died.
“Due to the intensity of the fire, the age and gender of the victim have not yet been determined,” he said.
“It’s very, very shocking. Honestly, because this is a very quiet neighborhood,” neighbor Linda Hernandez said.
Some neighbors told Local 10 that they ran to safety, concerned the fast-moving fire would spread.
“Yes, of course I was scared. We ran out the back door -- we got the baby (and) we ran out the back door,” Whitney said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation by the State Fire Marshal’s Office.
“I feel very bad for that person,” Hernandez said. “I feel very bad for the family, the individual.”