12 Residents Displaced After Group Home Fire
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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) -- A dozen people will need to find a new home after a fire in Ft. Lauderdale forced them out.
Ft. Lauderdale Fire Rescue reported heavy smoke and fire upon their arrival at 1511 N.W. 10th Avenue, just after 8:00 a.m. Thursday.
They used a thermal imager to check for victims when they learned that some of the 12 residents in the group home may be trapped inside. Fortunately, everyone had already escaped the flames by that time.
They left with little more than the clothes on their back.
"I got everyone out of the house," said one resident, who had the burn marks on his boots to prove it.
The group home operator told CBS4's Joan Murray that the fire started when a resident, who was smoking, accidentally lit a mattress on fire. The Ft. Lauderdale Fire Dept. said, however, the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
"Big. It was just really big. And the fire was uncontrollable. And more people came to rescue," said Leticia Ramos, a neighbor.
The fire destroyed nearly everything inside. The walls are standing but everything else will have to be rebuilt.
Ramos said seeing what happened to her neighbors broke her heart.
"Whatever programs are out there I will try to help. I wouldn't be human if I didn't," she said.
#FLFR working fire Lauderdale Manors and NW 10 Ave. @wsvn @WPLGLocal10 @SunSentinel pic.twitter.com/pPKfE1jOic
— FLFR PIO (@FtLaudFire) February 25, 2016
