SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — An 11-year-old boy died in an early Wednesday morning fire at an Altamonte Springs apartment complex, according to officials.
The coroner's office identified the victim as Ramon Thomas, a student at Lake Orienta Elementary School.
More than 70 firefighters rushed to the apartment complex at 857 Ballard Street after receiving calls of a fire around 1:23 a.m., according to Lt. Dave Williams of the Seminole County Fire Department in a news release.
TAKE A LOOK: @MyNews13 obtained video from a resident who left his apartment as the fire blazed through his building. He tells us he sat in his living room, and heard shouting and a loud explosion. “I was minutes before death,” said Uriah Frisby who shared this video with us. pic.twitter.com/9ko24mUY6Q
— Maria Serrano (@mariaserranotv) April 3, 2024
Units were on scene three minutes later as the fire burned through the roof.
The fire quickly spread to other units at the complex. Overall, the fire affected 12 apartments.
It is unclear how the fire started, but officials say it began in the upper level of the two-story apartment, where they later found the child.
The grandmother of the victim is still trying to process the loss of her grandson.
"I am going to miss him so much. I’m crying out, I’m crying out, but I can’t sleep because I keep seeing the vision in my memory," said Lucinda Simmons, the boy's grandmother.
Simmons said the mother of the boy is shattered. The boy also has multiple siblings.
"It’s hard, because, last night, I will say this, the oldest one fainted," the grandmother said. "They had to take her to the hospital."
The Seminole County school district said staffers were on site to help students navigate the loss of their classmate.
The American Red Cross arrived at the site overnight to try to assist the families who were affected.
"We were able to speak with the families, just to get a sense of what happened, what they need moving forward, and we’ll continue to talk to these families," said Duhane Lindo, regional communications manager for the American Red Cross of Central Florida.
Seminole County Fire Department Fire Chief Matt Kinley said a fire detection system could have been overwhelmed and burnt, but it is unclear if there were any active smoke detectors.
Doreen Overstreet, the public safety information officer for the fire department, later stated, "We did not hear any beeps from the smoke detectors. They are either not working or not in place. But we cannot confirm that they were not in place."
BREAKING NEWS: We’re at the scene of a fire in Altamonte Springs. @SeminoleCountyF says a child who lived in one of the 12 apartments affected by the fire—is now dead. pic.twitter.com/bYSYf64tdA
— Maria Serrano (@mariaserranotv) April 3, 2024
Kinley told Spectrum News 13 that a victim advocate from the Altamonte Springs Police Department is comforting the family of the victim.
“Unfortunately, you can do everything perfect sometimes and tragedy still happens,” Kinley said. “Please have this family in your thoughts. They’re suffering a tragedy that none of us ever wants to experience.”
There were no other reported injuries.
The State Fire Marshal's Office is taking over the investigation into what caused the fire. Authorities said they do not have any information at this time to lead them to believe the fire was suspicious in nature.
A resident, Uriah Frisby, said he was sitting in his living room when he heard shouting and then a loud explosion. He said he was “minutes before death” when the fire started spreading to his apartment where he lives with his 8-year-old daughter.
“Then I just opened the door and I see the neighbors pleading to me, saying, ‘Can you help? Can you help? Can you help?’ It was just so surreal. Like I said, no hesitation, I grabbed my daughter, and I was outta there,” said the 50-year-old Frisby.
