Man alerts neighbors as large fire burns Volusia County apartments

No one injured at Park Messina Apartment Homes

DeLAND, Fla. – A man alerted neighbors early Wednesday as fire ripped through a Volusia County apartment complex.

No one was injured in the fire, which was reported around 1:30 a.m. at the Park Messina Apartment Homes near DeLand. 

Fire officials said the man woke up to the smell of smoke in his unit and went door to door to get his neighbors out safely.

"The occupant smelled smoke and quickly got up called out to his mother and she was able to get an extinguisher and she tried to extinguish the fire while he very promptly went door to door, knocking and yelling to get the occupants to get out," said Division Chief Nicholas Castelli, of the Volusia County Fire Rescue. 

Castelli said flames were shooting from the roof of the apartment building when firefighters arrived.

Two out of the eight units sustained damage from the fire and others were damaged by water.

Ten people were displaced by the blaze. The Red Cross is assisting the families.

The cause of the fire is not known.

Watch News 6 for updates.


About the Author:

Ezzy Castro is a multimedia journalist on News 6's morning team who has a passion for telling the stories of the people in the Central Florida community. Ezzy worked at WFOR CBS4 in South Florida and KBMT in Beaumont, Texas, where she covered Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Being from Miami, Ezzy loves Cuban coffee and croquetas!

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