Several families have been displaced after a fire erupted at a Pompano Beach apartment complex early Monday morning, officials said.
Pompano Beach Fire Rescue crews responded to the fire at the 22-unit Royal Atlantic Apartments at 110 Northwest 7th Avenue around 2:45 a.m.
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Firefighters arrived to find one apartment with flames through the roof. Although they quickly contained the blaze and extinguished the fire in the two-story building, multiple units suffered smoke damage.
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NBC6 was on the scene as firefighters were working to put out the flames and residents stood outside waiting to be allowed back in to see what belongings could be salvaged.
One resident spoke to NBC6 and said that at about 3 a.m. she was woken up and as they were trying to evacuate the apartment with the six kids in their unit, all she could see was black smoke.
"[A neighbor] was yelling saying this is not a drill, because we usually do drills to make sure we're always on point," said one of the residents, Briana Rivera. "She was yelling this is not a drill, this is not a drill. She woke up all of us and we were panicking because by the time we were trying to get out the door, there was nothing but black smoke coming from it."
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Several units from Pompano Beach Fire Rescue and deputies from the Broward Sheriff's Office were on the scene investigating the fire.
The American Red Cross is assisting more than 55 residents who will be displaced.
There were no reports of any injuries but a cat did die in the fire, officials said.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
