Watch CBS News

1 Dead, 2 Escaped In N. Miami House Fire

NORTH MIAMI (CBS4)- Fifty fire fighters came together to battle a blaze at a North Miami home, but despite their best efforts they were unable to save the person inside. Two other people in the home were able to escape.

Cell phone video shows heavy smoke and flames billowing out of the home where one person was trapped inside. Firefighters and neighbors were unable to rescue him.

"We heard a lady or a man screaming and we couldn't really tell what it was and then it started catching flames and then you stopped hearing the screaming," neighbor William Ordonez said.

Ordonez said him and his brother, Edgar Gonzalez, ran over to the home and tried to help but the fire was too intense.

"It's like heart wrenching," said Edgar Gonzalez, a neighbor. "Because you like put yourself in a position where you couldn't, if that was your family member, you couldn't do nothing about it."

Firefighters said ultimately their effort was not successful.

"There was a significant amount of fire which obviously we had to get through that fire to get to the victim," Chief Jose Herrera with the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department said.

Fire investigators said after the flames ignited two people were able to get themselves out of the home. Medics transported both to the hospital after neighbors said the pair exhausted themselves trying to get to the other person inside.

"There was the guy outside, the owner of the house, calling out for help, help, help, somebody help me."

It was a frightening ordeal even for those who didn't know the people who lived here.

"It's sad, sad, sad," neighbor Annmarie Johnson said. "It could happen to anyone of us. It's very sad."

Investigators still do not know the cause of the blaze and can not say whether or not it was suspicious.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.