Eleven people are safe after a fire broke out in a Fort Lauderdale home and spread to the one next door.
The fire started at a home near Northwest 69 Court and Northwest 31 Avenue.
“Oh, my gosh, that’s so bad,” a person recording the fire as they drove by said. “It’s getting worse by the second.”
William Marley said he was sleeping when it started.
“I thought I was dreaming,” he said. “My grandma, I heard her screaming, yelling, ‘Fire, fire.’”
Once he heard that, William said, he ran through his home to get everyone out.
“So then I had to get my grandma out, then the dogs and my brother,” he said. “My grandma and my grandfather, they were awake. They were running around, they were screaming. I woke up and I tried to do the best I could.”
The whole family got out safe, with the dog inside a family truck, but the fire was still burning, and the flames spread to the back of a neighbor’s home.
“When we arrived on the scene, there were lots of complications, there were propane tanks that were burning, actively exploding,” Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue spokesperson Frank Guzman said.
The popping noises of those propane tanks could be heard in video provided by FLFR.
“There was a lot of debris burning. The propane tanks just made it difficult for us to access that area,” Guzman said.
Video of the aftermath showed both homes with extensive damage, with the back Florida room of one home completely destroyed, and the fence between both properties burnt down.
Homeowner John Marley and his family said that despite the heavy damage to the home, they’re just grateful nobody was hurt.
“We’re alive. It’s just another day, it’s a thing. If money bought it, money can fix it, so why am I going to worry?” John said.
“It’s not the greatest thing to wake up to, but we are all good,” William said.
The American Red Cross is providing emergency aid to the three families, 11 people, including four children, impacted by the fire.
The cause of the fire remains unclear.