Family of 4 loses belongings in Fort Lauderdale house fire

GoFundMe page created to help family

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A family of four lost their belongings early Tuesday in a fire in unincorporated Fort Lauderdale.

The fire was reported just after 1 a.m. in the 4900 block of SW 16th Street.

Roberto Su said he, his pregnant wife and their two children were sleeping when a man, identified as Johnathan Mendoza, 29, knocked on their door to alert them that flames were coming from their home.

Su said he ran to his children's bedrooms to get them out.

"Automatically, I go into rescue mode to get my kids and pull them out of their bedrooms and bring them to my wife," Su told Local 10 News reporter Ian Margol. 

Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Michael B. Kane said firefighters arrived at the home to find heavy smoke and flames coming from the back of the house.

He said firefighters used two hose lines inside the home to extinguish the fire.

The fire caused extensive damage to the home, Kane said.

"It just breaks my heart," Su said. "I put all of my funds into this house, all of my savings."

Su and his family escaped the fire unharmed, although they weren't able to save any of their belongings. 

"It's taking everything in my soul to hold it together, because we lost everything in the fire," Su said. "There's nothing that we were able to save and salvage."

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

A GoFundMe page has been created to help the Su family in their time of need. 


About the Authors:

Amanda Batchelor is the Digital Executive Producer for Local10.com.