WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — One day after Christmas several families are left picking up the pieces after an apartment fire in West Palm Beach.
The fire happened late last night at Palo Verde Apartments.
"You can smell it badly," Joseph Micco said.
His apartment is now stained by smoke.
"It's smoke damage in there," he told WPTV.
Micco says last night he woke up to the sounds of people fleeing his apartment building.
"There were people banging on the door telling us there was a fire," he recalled.
People at the complex spent Wednesday assessing damage. The Red Cross says five people had to leave their homes. Dorris Francis is one of them.
"I turned on the lights and I see young boy and he said I must get out," Francis said. "The house is on fire."
The property manager told WPTV Francis and others displaced by the fire will be relocated to a new apartment.
"But I have to give thanks it could be worse," Francis said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Palm Beach County Fire Rescue says this past 4 day holiday weekend they responded to 17 structure fires.
