Apartment fire leaves 21 Bradenton residents without homes. A dozen families without power
Several Bradenton families were ripped from their sleep before dawn on Monday, to the sounds of a roaring fire.
Just after 6 a.m., Southern Manatee Fire Rescue was called out to the 400 block of 24th Avenue Drive East in the Mira Lagos Apartments to reports of a fire. Firefighters arrived to find heavy smoke and flames coming from the downstairs apartments, according to Deputy Chief Rick Blanco.
“The fire was spreading rapidly upward,” Blanco said.
No one was injured in the fire.
Within nine minutes, the battalion chief on the scene called for a second alarm, sending more units to the scene, according to Blanco. A total of six fire engines and one ladder truck responded to the blaze, including units from Cedar Hammock Fire Rescue and the Bradenton Fire Department.
It took about 25 minutes for firefighters to extinguish the blaze, which left all 21 residents in the apartment building without a home.
There were eight apartments in the building, four of which were destroyed and the other four left uninhabitable. The radiant heat from the fire destroyed all of the electrical meters on the adjacent building, leaving those 12 families without power.
“Because of the integrity of the structure, we do have a K-9 on scene performing search and rescue deep into the structure where firefighters can’t go,” Blanco said. “The floors and trestles have weakened in such a manner that it is too dangerous to make anymore entries.”
“No one has been reported missing,” Blanco said. “But simply because we can’t verify it, we’ll do what we have to verify.”
Red Cross was called to the scene and arrived at about 8:50 a.m. to help the displaced families. Many families were waiting in the warmth of their cars, as early morning temperatures had dropped into the high 40’s.
Many residents waited inside the Manatee County Emergency Services RAPTOR, or the Rapid Activation Patient Treatment or Rehab bus, that was parked nearby inside the apartment.
When Samuel Rivera’s son woke him up, he saw the flames that were engulfing the front door of their home.
Rivera, 38, said he woke up his entire family, including his wife, three children and their dog, and escaped out the downstairs apartment’s screened-in patio.
“We broke the screen and were able to get out,” Rivera said.
Rivera prayed there would be something salvageable from his family’s home as he stood waiting in the parking lot.
The cause of the fire was unknown Monday morning, but is under investigation. The apartment buildings do have gas, according to Blanco, and are also equipped with fire sprinklers but they blaze was stronger than the sprinklers.
“All we know is that residents report a loud explosion,” Blanco said. “It’s very common. Fires are very loud.”
This story was originally published January 20, 2020 at 9:52 AM.
