Stuart condo building basically destroyed; early indications are cigarette started blaze

STUART — Nancy Schultz said when she sat down to watch “The Great Escape” starring the late Steve McQueen at about 8 p.m. Monday night, she heard yelling.

“I thought somebody was having a fight,” Schultz, 75, said Tuesday. “I opened my door and I didn’t see anything, but then I stepped out and all the smoke and flames were coming from Unit 10.”

Schultz had to do a great escape of her own.

The building in the Cedar Pointe Villages community on Southeast Ocean Boulevard, near the bridge between Stuart and Sewall's Point, was on fire.

Eight people were displaced after it ravaged several units, officials said Tuesday.

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Two people were taken to a local hospital with non life-threatening injuries after the blaze, according to Frank Lasaga, Stuart Fire Rescue spokesman.

Officials were called to the fire after 8 p.m. Monday.

“As crews were getting here, they noted there was heavy smoke conditions and it was banking out across the parking lot,” Lasaga said, standing at the scene. “Pretty quickly, the fire extended up through the ceiling … through the attic space.”

The fire started on the second, or top, floor of the structure, he said. There are five units on each of the top and ground floors.

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Schultz said she ran out of her ground-floor home and went upstairs to get a woman out who uses oxygen. Schultz said a cat on the top floor did not make it.

Schultz, who said she's originally from Buffalo, New York, said she bought her home in 2002 and has been a full-time resident since 2011. Now she doesn’t know what she will do.

“I just may get in the car and go to Buffalo,” she said.

Video showed flames appearing to erupt from the second floor, and a fire truck spraying water from an extended ladder on the fire.

"By the time the crews arrived, the fire was quickly spreading into the attic area,” Lasaga said. “The entire attic area burned, so we have significant damage to the second floor.”

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While the fire started on the second floor, there was a lot of water damage on the first floor, Lasaga said.

“It’s going to be quite a while before the residents are able to move in,” he said.

A host of fire rescue officials and vehicles were at the scene, which was blocked by yellow tape, Tuesday morning. The burned structure is nestled among others of similar style and appearance.

Flooded

Another resident, Vicki McCormick, said her home, a unit on the bottom floor of the building, was destroyed.

"I recently had the whole place repainted and got a brand-new AC," she said. "The whole unit is flooded and filled with smoke."

McCormick said around 8 p.m., she heard people shouting and thought a fight had started. When she and her husband went outside and saw the smoke, she grabbed her glasses and her cellphone and ran out with her family, minus their cat, Fluffy.

Once the family was out safely, they told fire officials Fluffy was still in their home. Firefighters were able to get Fluffy, who was waiting for them at the door.

"Thank God we're all safe," McCormick said. "We are blessed."

Bob Battisti, who lives in the building behind the one destroyed, said he heard "a big commotion outside" and about 30 minutes later was asked to evacuate.

"The roped us off and told us to leave," he said. "I was just scared that the tree (between the two buildings) was going to catch on fire and hit my place."

McCormick said she ended up borrowing clothes from her neighbor and stayed in their spare room. Residents from her building have not been allowed to return to their homes.

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She said she doesn't know the condition of her belongings.

"I can see I still have a microwave," she said as she peered through her open front door.

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Extensive damage

Lasaga said the building sustained extensive damage.

“The county building inspector is coming out to take a look at the building to determine the structural integrity and also to declare the building unsafe," he said.

Karl Holtkamp, Martin County Fire Rescue bureau chief, said early indications are that the fire may have been caused by a cigarette.

“That is a report that we’ve gotten, however, the state fire marshal is investigating,” Lasaga said. “It would be premature for us to state that as a definitive cause.”

No other structures were damaged, Lasaga said.