A Fire Rips Through A Lauderhill Townhome Killing Woman And Dog

LAUDERHILL (CBSMiami) -- A deadly house fire claimed the life of a woman and her dog. The situation  also left multiple families displaced.

"My house was smoky, the whole house," said Antoinette Gordon who lives next door to the townhome that went up in flames early Friday morning.  Gordon called 911 after going to her backyard and seeing the smoke and flames coming from her neighbors home, on the 2200 block of Northwest 55th Terrace in Lauderhill.

"I didn't know what else to do so I just ran back in the house and start grabbing my purse, grabbed the kids, woke up my son, we all just run out the house, some with no shoes, some had no shirts, we just came out the way we were," said Gordon.

They weren't alone. The townhouse building actually has about 8 units all connected under one roof.

CBS4 spoke to some of those neighbors about the fire.

"I saw big flames were at the back around there," said neighbor Basil Sparling, as he described the blaze.

"I started smelling some smoke and the dog started bugging out, so when I ran outside, I didn't see anything, but then when I ran to the back I saw the flames in the back and that's when I realized it was time to get the hell out," added Andrew Lindo another neighbor.

Lindo credits his dog Sunshine for saving his life saying if it wasn't for Sunshine barking, he would not have woken up.

Fire officials said they had an extra sense of urgency while making sure sleeping residents got out of their homes safely.

"What I'm being told from the crews, is that there's heavy fire and smoke at 3 o'clock in the morning that's a big concern, obviously because a lot of people are home and while every fire is different the impact of knowing that someone is possibly sleeping makes the stress level and the adrenaline level go a little bit quicker," explained Jeff Levy, Lauderhill Assistant Fire Chief.

CBS4 News was told multiple families have been displaced. Three of them are currently getting help from the Red Cross.

One positive that came out of this incident is that fire crews rescued a kitten.