MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – A family has been displaced from their Miami Gardens home after an overnight fire severely damaged the house.
The fire at the home in the 4800 block of Northwest 171 Terrace began around 10:45 p.m. Thursday. An elderly woman was in the home at the time, but was able to escape.
"I was the house. I heard a crackling noise," Nakia Martin said. "When I looked through my grandmother's bathroom, through the window, I saw flames. I was frightened because I saw that it wasn't anything I couldn't extinguish on my own."
Martin said she ran to get her 88-year-old grandmother and used all of her strength to drag her out of the house.
"She tripped and fell, trying to rush to get out, so I had to pull her out at that point, because she wasn't able to stand up," Martin said.
"My granddaughter saved me, because she pulled me out," Beryl Brooks said. "She said, 'Fire grandma, fire grandma! Grandma, come, come, come!'"
Eventually, neighbors jumped into help and the two escaped before the house was engulfed in flames.
Martin said the fire appears to have started on the patio.
"I think it began by the water heater or the freezer, because those are the only two electrical items in the backyard," she said.
Martin's mother was away at the time, but she too lives in the home.
"There was no insurance. Well, I don't know because it's a rented property," Debbie Smith said.
Firefighters spent almost two hours fighting the fire after a delay in which they were forced to evacuate the home over fears the roof would collapse.
No one was injured.
Even though the family lost everything, they said they're grateful they have what's most important -- each other.
"So, thank God I'm saved. Thank God for that one," Brooks said.
Investigators are still looking into the cause of the fire, but no foul play is expected.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the displaced family.