Police bodycam video shows a fire raging in an apartment building in Altamonte Springs, Florida, as local authorities desperately try to save residents from the flames, FOX35 reported.
An 11-year-old boy, Romon Thomas, was killed in the fire despite his best friend’s father’s attempts to rescue him from the scorching flames, according to FOX35.
“Don’t nobody want to get a phone call that say your grandson, or your son or daughter or whatever has perished because of fire,” the boy’s grandmother told FOX35. (RELATED: Video Shows Moment Officers Rescue Elderly Woman From Raging Flames)
Video shows Altamonte Springs police officers frantically attempt to rescue residents from apartment building https://t.co/Mz4bDesj1d
— FOX 35 Orlando (@fox35orlando) April 5, 2024
One of the body cams shows an officer inside the fiery building where Thomas apparently lived. The officer can be heard saying, “There’s a juvenile inside, but it is way too hot.”
In another body cam video, an officer runs from the intense heat and smoke after attempting to kick a door a few feet from the flames.
An officer can be seen running through the smoke with a flashlight and ordering residents to “Get out of your house!” and asking, “Is there anybody in here?” The officer can be heard coughing heavily due to the smoke.
The officer continues struggling through the smoke and banging on doors as he tries to clear the building, yelling, “Police!” and instructing residents to move away from the dangerous fire.
Fire crews show up on the scene moments after the video shows police speaking with neighbors about possible trapped children.
Neighbors and friends have made a memorial outside the building honoring the boy who died in the blaze, according to FOX35.
“That’s my friend, you know,” one of Thomas’ friends told FOX35. “And he was so young, too.”
Frank Martz, Altamonte Springs City Manager, said the complex passed the last full fire inspection in 2019, FOX35 reported.
Although inspections aren’t conducted every year, Martz said every issue identified at the complex had been rectified, according to the outlet.
The fire’s cause is currently under investigation.