Deadly Fire in Orlando Prompts Investigation into Causes

By Orlando Personal Injury Attorney on July 12, 2018

Officers with the Orlando Fire Department first received reports of a fire along the 5000 block of Lescot Lane in Orlando shortly before 6:00 in the morning of Sunday, July 8th. According to an official report from Ashley Papagni, a spokesperson for the Orlando Fire Department, the emergency 9-1-1 call resulted in numerous units throughout Orlando being sent to the address in question. The call also indicated that there were people inside of the building.

When the Orlando Fire Department reached the area, they found the building in question—a single family home—completely engulfed in flames. The roof of the home had also collapsed, and Marvin Francis, the District Fire Chief, told reporters that the first responders were seeing large columns of smoke and flame shooting from the structure. People who lived close by told the firefighters that they had heard screaming coming from within the home, and it is believed that at least one person had attempted to enter the building to rescue people believed to be trapped inside in the time before the firefighters reached the location.

Firefighters began to battle the flames as well as seek an entrance into the home in order to locate and rescue any person or persons trapped inside. It is believed that the Orlando Fire Department members were able to locate two individuals: a grandmother and granddaughter. Both were suffering from injuries do to the smoke and the fire and both were rushed from the area to Orlando Regional Medical Center. The severe burns that the two victims experienced were extremely critical, and the granddaughter was not able to recover. The grandmother is currently believed to be alive and healing, although further updates from the Orlando Fire Department are needed to fill us in on her precise condition at this time.

After the fire was extinguished, an investigation was launched into the reasons behind the deadly blaze. Preliminary work suggests that the home contained no functioning smoke or fire alarm, a factor which Chief Francis said likely contributed to the fatality.

The cause of the fire is still undetermined, with investigators continuing to try and parse out the catalyst for this tragic event.

James O. Cunningham

Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.