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Man's apartment catches fire after a fire breaks out next door

Posted at 7:25 PM, Dec 04, 2017
and last updated 2017-12-05 04:47:07-05

West Palm Beach resident Goldie Stewart says it was Sunday around 8 a.m. when an explosion woke her up. 

"I heard a loud explosion, boom louder than the downtown fireworks," he said. 

Stewart says he heard the fire before he actually saw it. Then he jumped into action, racing to his grandparents' house. They live near his apartment.

"Got my grandparents out of the house, got my neighbor out, got the cars out got everyone to safety and watched the fire burn," Stewart said.

Stewart says he lost everything. But it's not the first time the house next door to his apartment has caught fire. The front of the house caught fire back in April.

"I looked and saw small embers and flames, and that's how I knew the fire was close, and got out."

But Sunday morning, the smaller building in the back of the same property went up in flames.
The flames affected other neighbors. And the Red Cross is helping two people.

Stewart's mother, Stephanie Jefferson, is giving thanks that her son is OK.

"I just want to thank God that my son is safe even though he lost everything, my family is safe and that's all that matters," she said.

Now, neighbors want to know what happened.

Neighbor John Staible said, "That's what we really need to now here, what really happened."

The West Palm Beach Fire Department says the cause of the fire back in April is undetermined.

Sunday's fire remains under investigation.