CASSELBERRY, Fla. – Several people had to evacuate their homes early Sunday morning after a fire broke out at the Sandpiper Apartments in Casselberry, Seminole County Fire Rescue said.
Patrick O'Gara and his family woke up to loud bangs on their front door and firefighters telling them to leave their home as they battled the blaze right across from his apartment.
"The entire door was in flames. The window had already busted out, and some of the flames and smoke were coming out of the window," O'Gara said.
The Seminole County Fire Rescue responded to the apartment complex around 5:45 a.m. When they arrived, they found flames shooting out of the windows of a building and heavy smoke billowing in the dark sky. SCFR said 15 units spent 30 minutes knocking down the two-alarm fire.
O'Gara said he watched, worried the fire could spread to his home.
"Had the wind been any stronger than it actually was, there was a possibility the flames, or embers, blowing over to our building," he said.
SCFR said the fire was contained to one unit, but it was also near three other units that were evacuated due to smoke and electrical issues. It’s unknown when the families will be able to return to their homes.
Fire rescue said there were no injuries reported in the fire.
The American Red Cross is helping any families who were affected by the fire.
Investigators are trying to figure out what caused the blaze.
"They'll do interviews with the occupants of the home, also with the first arriving units, what they saw and what the situation was," Sharon Gregory, with the fire department said. "They'll also go inside to do a thorough investigation of the fire patterns and so forth to determine what caused the fire."
Stay with ClickOrlando.com for updates on this story.