ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. --
A major fire in Orlando caused a roof to collapse and sent a firefighter to the hospital Monday morning. The female firefighter was hurt fighting the blaze at the Palms Club Apartments in Orlando on MetroWest Boulevard just east of Kirkman Road, but her injures are not serious.
A maintenance worker pulled the fire alarm, alerting residents to the blaze that would leave one firefighter hospitalized. At 8:45am, approximately three to four dozen firefighters were still fully-involved in battling the major fire as flames could be seen shooting through the roof of at least one building. By 9:00am, the visible flames had been extinguished and the fire appeared to be smoldering.
The roof caved in during the firefight at the complex and at least three units were destroyed, leaving many families are homeless. Residents said they are grateful that maintenance workers were on duty to alert them of the fire.
"If it would have happened at 12 o'clock at night, we probably wouldnt be here talking," said Angel Martinez, whose home was destroyed.
The firefighter's injury happened as they went apartment to apartment to make sure everyone was out. Eight to ten firefighters had to quickly evacuate as heavy roof tiles began to fall in.
"We were looking straight at them and they were breaking the doors and that. And I see the roof just caved in," Martinez said.
The firefighter who was injured is going to be fine. Officials said she was hit by debris and injured her knee. Her name has not been released.
"The area in question, with the heavyweight tiles, came down. At that point in time, we had a firefighter that was struck with debris [and] had minor injuries, looks like a knee injury," said Deputy Chief Greg Hoggatt, Orlando Fire Rescue.
Investigators don't know how many units are unlivable and still don't know how the fire started.
WFTV spoke to a Red Cross representative who said about 10 families are temporarily displaced because of a loss of power and water to the building, but it's unclear how many of those units will be livable after the utilities are restored.
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