There’s now so much uncertainty for dozens of residents of a Miami apartment building that went up in flames Monday in what officials said was an intentionally set fire.
Many who left everything behind to escape the flames at the Temple Court apartments were spending the night in a shelter at Jose Marti Park.
It was around 8:30 a.m. when heavy smoke began billowing from the apartment complex made up of two buildings that mostly house the elderly.
It’s the first three-alarm fire the city of Miami has seen in 25 years.
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When police arrived, they weren’t only met with flames but also a wounded maintenance worker who had been shot.
Mayor Francis Suarez said a suspect was in custody who police believe is responsible for the shooting and setting off the fire.
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Cristhian Dominguez’s grandparents were among the 43 people who are now displaced.
“We’ve got to find housing for them now because that’s where they were living and I don’t even know how much the damage is,” said Dominguez.
On Monday, Commissioner Keon Hardemon’s staff brought bags of blankets while the Red Cross worked to provide the displaced with food and other essentials.
“We’re all homeless now,” said Mercedes Gouthmann, whose unit was on the first floor.
She managed to escape with her son, who has special needs, her dog and just a few important documents.
“I don’t have the medicine I take for my thyroid nor my blood pressure, I have nothing, and I’m devastated. I don’t know what’s going to happen to us,” said Gouthmann.
Ruth told NBC6 she watched as her grandmother was rescued by firefighters.
“There’s heirlooms and family belongings that has been passed down traditionally from generations down that we don’t know if we’re able to get,” she said. “And that’s irreplaceable.”
It took 126 firefighters eight hours to put out the flames.
According to Suarez, the property management company has rented a hotel to house the 43 people who were displaced for the next two weeks. It’s unclear what will happen to them after that.
“That was their house so it’s like where do they go now that’s the most important question,” said Dominguez.
The motive behind the shooting and the fire remains under investigation. The maintenance worker who was shot was in critical condition in the hospital.
