PALM BAY, Fla. – Two children died after a fire broke out early Friday at a Palm Bay condo complex, where one unit was fully engulfed in flames, according to firefighters.
Firefighters responded just before 1 a.m. to Country Gardens condominiums, located along Sunny Brook Lane off Babcock Street.
John Ringleb, assistant fire chief with the Palm Bay Fire Rescue, said they received a 911 call that a family was trapped inside a unit when the fire broke out.
Ringleb said a 10-year-old died at the scene and two others were taken to the hospital, a 5-year-old and a 32-year-old woman. The 5-year-old later died at the hospital, and the woman remains in critical condition, he said.
He also said there was a 15-year-old inside the home who was able to safely get out of the unit.
“When they (firefighters) arrived on scene, they did experience very heavy fire conditions. With the weather that we’ve been having over the last couple of nights, this was a challenging fire,” Ringleb said. “It was what we call a wind-driven fire.”
The fire did not spread to the surrounding units, but Ringleb said one unit adjacent to the unit where the fire broke out was displaced because the power went out.
The Palm Bay Fire Rescue, Brevard County Fire Rescue, Melbourne Fire Department and the Malabar Fire Department responded to the scene.
The state fire marshal is investigating to determine the cause of the fire.
This is a developing story and will be updated with more information as we receive it.
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