PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Dozens of Palm Beach County firefighters battled a raging fire at an apartment complex Monday morning.
Firefighters were called to the Palo Verde apartments, located in the 6000 block of Forest Hill Boulevard near West Palm Beach, just before 6 a.m.
Exclusive video from WPTV Chopper 5 showed flames and thick smoke shooting through the roof of the two-story complex.
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Palm Beach County Fire Rescue said one person was taken to a local hospital after being rescued from a second-floor balcony.
Firefighters from at least three different battalions worked together to get the flames under control.
Pictures of the aftermath showed part of the roof badly charred and caved in, along with wooded support beams exposed and debris littering the ground.
#PBCFR crews from #Battalion 10, 2, and 3 responded to a working structure fire at an apartment building. Crews worked diligently to successfully extinguish and mitigate the fire. #RedCross was contacted to assist with any displaced occupants. #AllHazardsAllTheTime pic.twitter.com/Edj2W3a2ol
— PBC Fire Rescue (@PBCFR) May 2, 2022
The American Red Cross said at least 18 units were impacted by the blaze and 52 residents — including 16 children — have been displaced. The organization is now helping those families find a new place to live.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
WPTV did not find any code violations involving the apartment complex. However, some residents told WPTV they have not had many inspections in the past couple years. In fact, they said, the smoke alarm did not even go off Monday morning.
A resident who spoke to WPTV in Spanish said he doesn’t know what is going on with this complex.
"You don’t feel safe because you don't have any protection," the resident said. "It's the type of maintenance they have that they aren't paying attention to what is going on around the buildings."
