ORLANDO, Fla. – Orange County Fire Rescue released 911 calls from the East Millenia apartment fire Saturday morning, where a deputy saved a baby trapped on the third floor.
First responders from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and OCFR arrived at the apartments on Lake Fountain Drive to assist residents and extinguish the flames.
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While OCFR says that smoke detectors in the building were able to alert some residents to the fire in time for them to evacuate, callers allegedly witnessed several occupants trapped on the third floor.
“I was asleep and (someone) woke me up, and there’s a fire at the apartment below us... it’s taking over,” one woman told 911.
The woman can be heard over the phone telling her neighbors to get out of the apartment as the flames “engulf” the building’s three floors,
”The sheriff’s department is knocking on everybody’s doors and trying to get them out,” the woman told the 911 dispatcher.
”The whole building is on fire... it’s burning like crazy,” another caller told 911.
“People are getting out right now, and there are animals inside,” a third caller reported.
Over one of the calls, the dispatcher was informed by officials that three people were trapped on the third floor — including a 1-year-old.
“I saw on the third balcony there’s a 1-year-old baby that the mom was trying to get over.” says Deputy William Puzynski, who was responsible for rescuing the child. “At that moment I knew I had to save the baby.”
According to OCFR, no casualties or injuries were reported as a result of the fire, though the American Red Cross says it displaced 6 -12 of the residents. Records also indicate the incident caused more than 1 million dollars’ worth of destruction in damages to the complex.
OCFR says the fire originated on the first floor of the building, though investigations are on-going as to how it began.