Lauderhill firefighters on Friday used a ladder truck to rescue two people from an apartment building whose fifth floor caught fire.
The fire was reported about 11 a.m. at one of the buildings at the Inverrary 441 Apartments, near Central Broward Regional Park northeast of State Road 7 and Sunrise Boulevard, officials said.
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No building occupants were injured. However, two firefighters suffered minor smoke- and heat-related injuries, officials said.
Firefighters said the concrete walls turned the fifth-floor hallway into a chimney. The building does not have sprinklers installed, and the code does not require it.
"When I opened the door and it was like black smoke everywhere," said Corey Doe, who escaped the flames.
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Most people made it out safely on their own, but two women needed help to escape the flames. Firefighters used a ladder truck to rescue a mother and her adult daughter from their balcony.
They live next door to where the fire started. Smoke spread across the floor, damaging their apartment and several others.
Doe remembered what was going through his mind as he ran down five flights of stairs with his family.
"Everything, my life, my kid’s life, everything. If I was asleep, if we wouldn't have woke up – man, we're just blessed,” he said.
The Red Cross was helping make arrangements for him and other residents affected by the fire.
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