FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – An early morning fire at a North Lauderdale apartment building claimed the life of an unidentified man.
Flames broke out in a second floor apartment of building #3 at the Courtyards of Broward on SW 81st Street around 8 a.m. It appears it started in or near a bedroom where the deceased man was found.
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Theresa McBarnett was awakened by fire crews pounding on her door.
“Oh my God, I don’t know. We just woke up this morning with all this noise, fire engines, sirens,” she said.
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McBarnett has lived here for three years and never experienced anything like this.
“The units above it on the 3rd and 4th floor were starting to burn. Fire (crews) quickly knocked down the fire. And in their search of the second floor unit they found a deceased body,” said North Lauderdale City Manager Michael Sargis.
All of the units of building #3, roughly 15 to 20 apartments, were evacuated. The Red Cross is now assisting those residents.
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The power to the building has been cut off. Broward Sheriff’s homicide detectives have started an investigation into the man’s death. The Fire Marshal’s office is looking into the cause of the fire.
