2 women rescued in apartment fire

LAUDERHILL, Fla. (WSVN) -- Two women trapped in an apartment building on fire were rescued from their window by firefighters, Friday morning.

The blaze started around 11 a.m. inside a unit located on the top floor of a five-story building at the Inverrary 441 complex on North State Road Seven.

The smoke spread so fast that the two tenants who live in an adjacent unit to the one that caught on fire were unable to evacuate the building on their own. Lauderhill firefighters had to raise a ladder to reach the women and pick them up in the bucket of their ladder truck. Both residents were unharmed.

Investigators have not been able to determine whether there were people inside the fifth floor unit where the blaze started. All other tenants were able to exit the building before the fire spread further.

Smoke alarms went off, but residents said, since alarms go off so frequently, some of them were unsure whether this was an actual fire or some sort of drill. "Something told me to come outside," said Wood Works. "When I came outside, I saw the smoke, people running out of the building. I saw a man jumping out the window," he continued.

Another tenant described the chaos that ensued. "We started hearing people screaming, 'Is everybody OK?'" said Corey Doe.

A third witness said he started feeling the effects of the smoke right away. "I started coughing because the smoke got so heavy, coming down the hallway," said Tray'shown Damore.

Investigators said the fire burned for 30 minutes and also indicated that it was so intense that the lower portion of the wall throughout the fifth floor was completely covered in smoke.

The entire building is currently without electricity.

Officials have not announced whether they will be able to let people residing on the bottom two floor return to their units. Tenants on the top three floors will not be able to get back to their apartments for at least the next several hours.

Lauderhill Fire Rescue continue their investigation to determine the cause of the fire. Two firefighters were treated on the scene for smoke inhalation.

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