South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Young girls killed in fire
Two young girls, a 5-year-old and 5-month-old, were killed Saturday morning when a blaze swept through their Pompano Beach apartment, authorities said. The mother of the children had left her 15-year-old sister baby-sitting the two girls and their 2-year-old brother, Broward Sheriff ’s spokeswoman Keyla Concepcion said.
Two young girls were killed Saturday morning when a blaze swept through their Pompano Beach apartment, Pompano Beach FireRescue officials said.
The victims were Sofia Melendez, 5, and Abigail Espinoza, 5 months.
The fire happened at the Banyan Club Apartments at 1830 NE 48th St. at 9:30 a.m., said Broward Sheriff’s spokeswoman Keyla Concepcion. “Neighbors saw smoke coming from one of the units and attempted to make entry to help but it was heavy smoke,” she said. “They called 911 and reported the fire.”
When firefighters arrived, there were smoke and flames coming from a third floor apartment.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze and searched the apartment, finding the two
children dead in a bedroom, said spokeswoman Sandra King.
Enid Torres said she is a friend of the father of the two girls who died and she came over to the apartment building when she heard about the fire.
The father does not live with the family in the apartment. The mother of the children, Jocelyn Melendez, was at her job with a roofing company and had left her 15-year-old sister baby-sitting the two girls and their 2-year-old brother, Concepcion said.
The aunt went to the store with the 2-year-old boy and when she returned, the apartment was on fire. The mother, father, aunt and the 2-year-old were taken from the scene by Broward Sheriff ’s deputies.
“It’s horrible. Can you imagine?” Torres said. “He is an awesome dad, an awesome dad, I can tell you
that much. It’s very sad. I was in shock. I was holding my stomach. I couldn’t believe it.”
King says firefighters had contained the flames quickly and found the bodies soon after, adding that the building was evacuated.
“Absolutely, firefighters were getting people out of
the building,” she said. “Obviously, when you have a multifamily residential apartment building, the immediate response is to get everybody out in case the fire spreads, and also the smoke inhalation is very dangerous.
“This is a horrible tragedy for this family,” King added.
Santara Joseph lives on the first floor of the apartment building with her brother Brandon Joseph, 2, mother Violin Joseph and grandmother Marie Louis.
All were evacuated by firefighters.
“I was sleeping but my grandmother was up and she said there was a fire outside,” Santara Joseph said. “The apartment upstairs was burning and two kids died. Everybody just rushed out because they saw the fire. Everybody stayed outside just to be cautious because you don’t know what could happen next.”
Pompano Beach Fire inspectors and the State Fire Marshal are investigating the cause of the fire.
Anyone with information about the fire is asked to contact BSO Homicide Detective John Curcio at 954-321-4210. If you wish to remain anonymous, contact Broward Crimestoppers at 954-493-8477, or online at browardcrimestoppers. org.