70 escape from 2-alarm apartment complex fire

The State Fire Marshal is investigating an apartment fire because the 911 call reporting it did not come from anyone in the complex.

The fire started around 5 a.m. at the Outrigger Apartments near the intersection of Colonial and Semoran Boulevard.

The fire department didn't get the 911 call from anyone in this building. Instead it came from a sheriff's helicopter.

Pilots spotted the fire while searching for a suspect in an unrelated case.
 
Questions are beginning to arise among residents about the source of this fire.

After a surprising wake up call, Madrid Avenue was flooded with people while firefighters drench their home.

"The Sheriff's Department was pounding real hard," said Ralph Zastenik, a resident. "They were saying get out, get out. I made sure I got my wife and my kids and we got out of there."

Zastenik was one of 50 people evacuated from nearby buildings. A total of 20 were evacuated from the burning building.

Three of the eight apartments were fully involved.
 
Getting out wasn't so easy for residents on the top floor.

"The family upstairs had no way for them to get out so they had to jump out the window," said resident Jose Toledo.

Toledo said there was a group of men who lived in the complex waiting on the ground to catch them.

"They threw two kids out first," Toledo said. "Then he threw his wife out, then the dog went out and he was the last one to jump out."

Amazingly, no one was hurt while escaping the flames. 

Investigators believe it started in the lower apartment, which has neighbor Jose Toledo suspicious.

"The people that lived there moved about a month ago," Toledo said. "So the electricity was off.  So probably whoever could've been staying there could've had candles or whatever.  Could've been everything."

Toledo also suspected it could be arson.

The State Fire Marshall's Office is investigating, but so far, has not released the cause of the fire.

In the meantime, the Red Cross is helping the families displaced by the fire.