6 cats rescued after fire breaks out at Winter Park apartment complex

WINTER PARK, Fla. - An early morning fire caused the Cranes Landing apartment complex off of Goldenrod Road to evacuate.

The call came in around 5:30 a.m. Within minutes, the flames climbed out of the downstairs apartment window scaling the three-story building.

“It was very scary,” Veronica Suarez said.

Sean Garbey lives right above the first floor unit on fire. He said he didn’t even have time to grab shoes. 

“No we just ran out,” Garbey said. “We heard the neighbor on the phone downstairs yelling. So we ran outside, opened the door and smoke is pouring in. So we come downstairs and the whole apartment is engulfed in flames.”

Fire officials said the woman living in the downstairs unit was able to get out, but her kitten was still inside.

The Orange County Fire Department was only a half mile down the road and got there quickly.

“They managed to rescue that kitten,” Mike Jachles, spokesman for the Orange County Fire Rescue said. “It was in a vanity in the bathroom.”

The woman was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation as firefighters worked to contain the flames and make sure everyone was safe.

“The second floor unit there were people sleeping at the time,” Jachles said. “Our firefighters went up, got them up, got them out and there were also five cats that were rescued from the second floor.”

“I just covered my face and came out,” Isaac Barbee said.

All kittens and cats were accounted for and doing well.

The woman was released from the hospital.

Fire said they determined the cause of the fire was from a pot left on the kitchen stove.

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