Woman trapped in house fire succumbs to injuries
SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. (WSVN) -- A family is mourning the loss of a young mother who became trapped inside her burning house early Friday afternoon.
Ana Cruz, The mother of a 10-year-old child, suffered smoke inhalation and succumbed to her injuries a short time after rescuers airlifted her to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center.
Her husband, Alex Cruz, arrived to the scene of the fire only to learn his wife, who family said was in her 30s, had died. "She was a really good person," he said, "a really good wife and mother. I don't know," he said trailing off, near tears.
He said he married her when they were in their teens. "I'm 38 years old. I've been married 23 years. That's half my life," he said.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded to the residence located along Southwest 131st Avenue and 76th Terrace after they received reports of smoke coming from a hole in the roof of the house.
Rescuers had also received reports that there was a person trapped inside. Unable to find anyone inside the home during their preliminary search, rescue crews waited for smoke to clear from the interior before re-entering the home. "They encountered a heavy, heavy amount of flames. There was extreme heat, a lot of flames billowing out the window," said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Lt. Arnold Piedrahita.
Units then found Cruz in a bedroom at the rear of the home and began performing CPR on the woman as they brought her to a waiting air rescue chopper.
Miami-Dade Police has now taken over the investigation into the cause of the blaze. "Right now they are going to conduct a thorough investigation, as they always do when there is a death involved," said Miami-Dade Police Detective Rebeca Perez.
Perez did note that nothing seemed suspicious about the fire or that anyone did anything wrong, upon their preliminary investigation. "As of right now, we don't have anything to indicate anything alarming regarding suspicion," she said.
The family of three shared the home with the victim's mother. Now, the family is left to make funeral arrangements, as Mother's Day looms just around the corner.
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