Neighbors say an 80-year-old woman was heard banging on her walls and screaming for help before she died in a fire that ravaged her northwest Miami-Dade trailer home early Thursday.
Neighbors first heard explosions coming from the trailer behind a house at 20150 Northwest 57th Court just before 2:00 a.m. They said the fire then started shortly afterward with a grandmother trapped inside.
"I see orange in my living room which was really weird... I hear yelling and screaming from the backyard," said Vilma Alvarez.
Neighbors rushed to call for help.
"I seen the fire so I called 911 as soon as possible and when I came outside I just hear somebody banging," said Charles Alvarez.
Another neighbor, Osvaldo Benitez rushed in to try to rescue the woman. He said when he got the trailer, he broke down the door. But the woman living there would often put sofas and chairs in front of the door to protect herself from intruders.
He said he managed to get five feet inside, but it was too hot and he could not go any farther.
The smoke was so thick, they said you could barely see the firefighters working to put out the flames.
Firefighters have gone through the charred shell that remains but they still do not know what caused the fire.
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"It's a horrible thing and losing any family member is very painful... I still feel their pain, I really do," said Vilma Alvarez.
