Fire Erupts In Northeast Miami-Dade Apartment Building

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Residents of a northeast Miami-Dade apartment building were forced out of their homes by an early morning fire.

Residents said the fire started around 3 a.m. in a unit on the fourth floor of a building in the Cedar Glen complex 671 NE 195th Street.

"They were screaming it's fire, this was alarm and I wake up and I hear alarm," said five-year-old Angel Degeda who fled with his mother and sister.

"There was a loud knock on the door, I know that something was wrong. I rushed to the door, that's when I realized the smoke was traveling fast," said William Vazquez.

Jaques Louis, who lives on the fourth floor, saw heavy smoke filling the hallway when he opened the door.

"We could see it coming from the hallway, we could see the end of the hallway, someone was standing on the other side, you wouldn't be able to recognize or see that person," said Louis.

"When I come out at the beginning I saw a lot of smoke, a lot of black smoke, a lot of fire going in, and I asked security if he had called 911 and he said like ten minutes ago. So that's when I call again 911 and told them that it was an emergency because the fire was bursting out of the ceiling," said the president of the homeowners association.

More than a dozen fire units were dispatched to battle the blaze. Firefighters say the damage was mostly contained to a single unit which is a total loss.

No injuries were reported.