Homestead

‘My house is burning!': 1 flown to hospital after fire takes over Homestead home

Video captured the flames that broke out shortly before midnight Monday at the community on Waterstone Boulevard.

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Investigators are looking into the cause of the fire as neighbors say they heard, “Help, help, my house is burning!” NBC6’s Julia Bagg reports.

One person had to be flown to the hospital after fire took over a townhouse in Homestead late Monday night, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said, after a neighbor said she heard that person screaming for help.

Video captured the flames that broke out shortly before 11 p.m. Monday at the community near the 4200 block and NE 9th Street in Homestead.

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Miami-Dade Fire Rescue officials said over 30 units responded after they received reports of a fire "with possible exposure to neighboring units."

One person had to be flown to a trauma center from the scene, but their identity and the extent of their injuries were not known.

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Fire investigators have yet to identify a cause, but neighbors like Eliana Villalona have been filling in the blanks.

"'Help, help, my house is burning, my house is burning!'" Villalona said her neighbor shouted in Spanish when the flames broke out.

She said he told her he lit a candle and went to sleep in another room, but then the candle fell and lit the carpet on fire.

Video captured the flames that ripped through a home in Homestead. NBC6's Julia Bagg reports.

Villalona said her neighbor tried to put out the flames himself, but could not, and ended up with burns on his hands and face.

She said he was the one rescuers flew to the hospital.

Firefighters who arrived at the scene encountered heavy smoke and flames and went to work trying to put the fire out. Villalona said the fire kept flaring up for hours.

A neighbor said they saw fire on the second floor, and images show flames and smoke coming through the roof. Video also showed one man holding a cat as first responders worked the scene

"First time I've seen anything like this. I've been here 14 years, never seen anything like this. I think it's gutted back there," one neighbor said. "My neighbors woke me up by banging on the window, and I was sleep... I walked around—it's bad."

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said at around 2 a.m. that the fire was under control, and it was extinguished by Tuesday morning. The office cause of the fire is still under investigation.

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