Fire struck a Davie condominium complex for the third time in a week, causing major damage and sending flames shooting 50 feet into the air during the predawn hours on Monday.
No injuries were reported at the Arrowhead Condominiums in the 2500 block of Southwest 81st Ave., Davie. Police evacuated residents just after the fire was reported around 5 a.m.
Davie fire Capt. Brian Nolte said about 25 to 30 residents had remained in the building after a fire at 11 p.m. Saturday damaged the bedroom of a unit and resulted in the electricity being turned off to part or all of the building.
Nolte did not know how many residents were in the building when Monday morning's fire began.
The four-story, 32-unit building was still smoldering through the roof at 9:30 a.m. as Davie firefighters pumped more water into the rubble. Nolte said the building was a total loss.
Davie fire officials told NBC 6 that they had no evidence about what caused this fire, although they noted they had thoroughly checked the complex after Saturday's fire to make sure there were not any hot spots remaining.
The first fire, at a different building in the condo complex, occurred last Monday, apparently set to cover up the murder of William Joseph Baldi, 50, whose body was found in his burning second-floor apartment.
Detectives said at the time they were searching for a suspect they think took off with Baldi's silver 1999 Nissan Pathfinder with a tag number of U71 AFT.
Baldi's neighbors knew him as Bill, the man who greeted them at their neighborhood Kmart where he worked and made sure the apartment's pool area was locked up each night.
Neighbors said Baldi, a cancer survivor, loved life and decided to have his left arm amputated when he was diagnosed with cancer to have a better chance of beating the disease.
