ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – The family of an 11-year-old boy who died earlier this year in an apartment fire in Altamonte Springs filed a lawsuit against the complex where they lived.
The fire broke out around 1:20 a.m. on April 3 at Goldelm at Charter Pointe on Ballard Street near Ronald Regan Boulevard.
According to the family’s lawyers, Ramon Thomas and his siblings were asleep when flames started coming through the walls. The apartment did not have working smoke alarms and when the children got out, they realized their 11-year-old brother was trapped in another bedroom, the law firm said.
“The 17-year-old quickly gathered the siblings and they left the apartment. In the chaotic scene, they thought Ramon was following them but he was asleep in another bedroom. At that point, flames had engulfed the apartment building making it impossible for law enforcement to get back in and rescue the boy,” a release said.
The boy’s mother spoke on Tuesday about the lawsuit and the death of her son.
“We’ve just been taking it day by day. I mean, it has totally turned our lives around. Just everything reminds me of him, it just seems like a dream like it’s not real,” she said.
The Seminole County Fire Department said firefighters arrived and found flames shooting through the roof of a building, affecting 12 units. More than 70 firefighters battled the fire.
Ryan Fletcher, one of the attorneys at Osborne & Francis Law Firm, said body camera video reviewed from the night shows “there’s no smoke alarms going off at the time of this fire.”
“I could have actually lost all my children in this fire and just, out of the grace of God, Leah did wake up. I just, really, don’t wish this on anybody. And hope you know, some laws can come in place, or anything like that, to where it protects just everybody, families like mine, because these house fires are getting way out of control. I see it happening too often now, and I just really want to change, not just for my son, but everybody,” the boy’s mother said.
Uriah Frisby, who lives in the building that caught fire, said he first heard screaming.
“Then I heard an explosion, like a loud bang,” he said. “I opened my door and the neighbors, who their house was on fire, were basically telling me, ‘Hey, can you help, can you help, can you help?’”
The lawsuit claims the complex failed to ensure the smoke alarms were inspected and working.
The Seminole County Fire Department has a smoke alarm program where any resident can request a free alarm on the county’s website and have it installed by a firefighter.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: