ORLANDO, Fla. — A former homeless shelter in downtown Orlando caught fire Wednesday morning, blanketing several blocks with thick smoke, and Orlando Fire Department said that for the first time, it deployed a drone to help put out the blaze.

  • Firefighters were called out, left, and returned 8:45 a.m.
  • Orlando Fire says it's the 1st time firefighters used a drone
  • 5 people inside were rescued, 1 person taken to hospital

One person was transported to a hospital, and five people inside the building were rescued.

The building, on 410 West Central Blvd., caught fire before 9 a.m., and smoke was still pouring out two hours later. It's the former location of the Orlando Union Rescue Mission, a homeless shelter.

Central Boulevard, near Division Avenue, was shut down as firefighters battled the blaze.

The former shelter is across the street from the federal courthouse.

Firefighters initially were called out early Wednesday, attended to a fire, and left. But they were called out again at 8:45 a.m.

Officials haven't said what they think caused the fire. But a man who was sleeping in his car in front of the building when the flames broke out Wednesday morning said other homeless people would squat inside the building because it's empty and they have nowhere else to go.

"When I woke up again, there was flames, smoke shooting out the side of the building," witness Jessie Lawhorn said. "I told him to get up and move; it was a raging fire. He got up and moved, and I got in my car and moved it down the street to get away from here."

Fire Department Deploys Drone

Orlando Fire Department said that it was first time firefighters used a drone while battling flames.

“You can’t see through all that smoke. So with the drone being away from all the smoke, we were able to see where the fire was coming out, then communicate it to the crews in the buckets, 'OK, you need to move your stream right, left, up down, to be able to get to the seed of the fire,” said Orlando Fire Department Chief Benjamin Barksdale.

Barksdale said it won’t be the last time they use the drone to fight a live fire.

“The goal is that each fire investigator will have one, so that they would be able to deploy it, and it can be added to any second or third alarm or any significant fire,” he explained.

If the smoke gets too thick, the drone can use thermal imaging to pick up hot spots invisible to the naked eye.

Although they have one drone at the moment, the fire department has another one on order.

Investigators called the fire suspicious. The person taken to the hospital was expected to be OK.