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Overnight Fire in Fort Lauderdale High Rise Leaves One Dead, Another Hospitalized

FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – A man in his 90s was killed and another person hospitalized after a fire broke out inside of their Fort Lauderdale apartment early Friday morning.

According to Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue the building did not have a fire sprinkler system.

"A lot of these older high rises here on the Galt are unsprinkled which creates a very, very dangerous situation," said Fort Lauderdale Fire Battalion Chief Stephen Gollan.

Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue responded to reports of a fire in one of the units on the ninth floor at the Ocean Summit condominium on Galt Ocean Drive shortly before 1 a.m. The building which does not have a fire sprinkler system,

"The fire department came, they went up there to contain the fire, they took one person to the hospital and I'm sorry the other one didn't make it," said security guard Rosalie Williams.

Williams said she heard the fire alarm go off and went up to the ninth floor.

"As I went to the ninth floor, I could smell smoke in the hallway, so I went down to 911 and I could see black residue on the door," she said.

Williams told CBS4 that she knocked on the door to try and get the residents out, but no one answered.

Firefighters were able to put to contain the fire before it spread to any neighboring units.

Investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire.

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