ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Mikeanesha Moore, the woman who was critically injured after a possible gas explosion at an Orange County apartment, died on Saturday, according to her family.
Moore was critically injured in the explosion at the Woodhill Apartments on March 1, in the 7300 block of Woodhill Park Drive.
Her family told News 6 that she passed away Saturday evening.
Moore, along with her husband Raven Fondia and their three children, moved down to Florida two years ago for a new beginning. After spending some time in Altamonte Springs, Mikeanesha found Woodhill Apartments.
Now, Moore’s family is looking for answers.
“She returned home at 9:28 (a.m.), and then the gas pipes exploded at 9:33 (a.m.) — not even five minutes later,” said Fondia.
Fondia said he was at work at the time, and his boss brought him to Orlando Regional Medical Center.
“When I saw her, it tore me down,” Fondia said. “I don’t want to say much in case my kids come across this footage, but it’s severe. Very severe. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life, and the first time seeing this being my wife — I’m not even eating, I’m not sleeping, I’m worried about my mental state at this point.”
“I think the important thing is figuring out how it happened, who is the party,” Orange County Commissioner Michael Scott on Monday. “And I think the more specific thing is what was the breakdown? And then from there, how do we make changes so that this doesn’t happen again. It always has to be how did it happen, and how do we prevent it from happening in the future.”
Woodhill Apartments falls in Scott’s district, so we asked him what role the county plays when it comes to building inspections and gas line maintenance.
“We have a number of providers, TECO gas, Apopka gas, I think in this case it’s Apopka and so that’s not our expertise you know the utilities do different things however if we see something that we think is a potential gas issue, then we’ll refer to the appropriate agency,” Scott said.
We also asked Commissioner Scott if there are any routine gas line checked that are performed.
“So without doing any thorough research, I think that there are some protocols in place. Just the frequency of them and so any time there is a challenge especially a loss of life it’s like hey, if we’re doing something maybe every three months or twice a year, or whatever, maybe we need to increase those frequencies so that something like this doesn’t happen,” Scott said. “But again ultimately we won’t know what happened until the investigation concludes.”
The family filed a lawsuit against the apartment complex, claiming there was an unplugged gas line in the laundry room. Investigators have yet to confirm if that was the cause of the explosion.
After the explosion, News 6 spoke to residents at Woodhill Apartments, who explained they’ve dealt with gas-related issues in the past.
News 6 asked Orange County Fire Rescue about this. They said there have been four calls to Woodhill Apartments where a gas odor was reported from Jan. 1, 2023 to March 5, 2024.
They also pointed out this does not mean a gas odor was detected or confirmed.
“I need someone held accountable,” Fondia said. “I can’t say who, I’m not going to say who, but someone needs to be held accountable. She was home alone when this happened and it wasn’t her fault.”
Moore’s family has set up a GoFundMe to help with their expenses. If you’re interested in donating, click here.
Orange County Explosion Lawsuit by News 6 WKMG-TV on Scribd
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: