17 residents out of their homes after Bradenton apartment fire

Four of Samantha Spears’ pets perished as she and 16 other residents were displaced from their homes by an apartment fire Thursday evening.

On Friday, a tearful Spears stood outside her apartment’s ruins, recalling what had happened.

She had just placed chicken to defrost in a microwave — one she had for just over a month — and walked across her first-floor Sun Chase Apartment, where the 23-year-old has been living for three years.

When Spears returned to the kitchen, she saw smoke coming from the microwave.

She opened the door and yelled for her dogs, but only two of her dogs made it outside with her. She tried to go back into her apartment to rescue the other two dogs and two cats, but the smoke in the living room was too thick.

The Bradenton Fire Department was called to Sun Chase Apartments in the 6000 block of 30th Avenue West around 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

Crews arrived to see smoke and flames showing from multiple apartments. It took 15 minutes for the firefighters to extinguish the flames, according to the Bradenton Fire Department.

Spears stood outside, watching. She called her boyfriend, who left work to come to the apartment and stand with her.

“I tried staying nearby to see when they would go get the dogs, but they kept pushing me back,” Spears told the Herald on Friday.

Her neighbors all started coming outside. A resident from a nearby building saw the fire and started evacuating more people, Spears said.

There were no reported injuries except for the lost pets. The residents of eight apartments were displaced, and the American Red Cross provided assistance to them.

Officials estimated the fire caused about $400,000 in property damage.

Spears’ apartment was nearly destroyed. Fire officials let her check the apartment for anything salvageable.

She and her boyfriend don’t have much left after the fire: their two dogs, Trunks and Bella, and just a couple bags of clothes.

“Everything either burned or had water damage or smoke,” Spears said.

A family member started a GoFundMe page to help the couple get back on their feet. In the meantime, Spears is staying with family in Palmetto and the Red Cross was able to give her and her boyfriend some short term assistance.

Spears said the Sun Chase Apartment complex is working with her on leasing options, as she had just resigned a lease with them before the fire.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Units from Cedar Hammock Fire Rescue, West Manatee Fire Rescue, Manatee County EMS and Bradenton Police Department assisted at the scene.

This story was originally published January 5, 2018 at 8:46 AM with the headline "17 residents out of their homes after Bradenton apartment fire."