No injuries, but major damage from early morning condo fire

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — No injuries are reported after an early morning fire that destroyed one condominium and left major damage to another unit, authorities said.

This is the second major condominium fire in the area to happen this year.

Indian River County Fire Rescue crews responded to the blaze about 2 a.m. Saturday at the Vista Royale community complex, 97 Spring Lake Drive, spokesman Cory Richter said. Several residents evacuated the complex before fire crews arrived.

Two units were engulfed in flames.

Video provided by Kyle Bishop. *Note for videos – Click the audio icon in the lower right hand corner for sound. If that doesn’t work, try refreshing the page.

WPTV

Posted by Kyle Bishop on Friday, May 25, 2018

 

Firefighters extinguished the blaze about 5 a.m. Richter said one condo was a “total loss” and another has heavy damage.

Nobody was hurt during the incident and the state fire marshal is at the scene, Richter said. Red Cross South Florida Region is on scene assisting at least 15 people.

It’s not immediately known if all 15 people are permanently displaced. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.

Vero Beach resident Kyle Bishop was driving home from work at Uber about 2 a.m. on southbound Indian River Boulevard, north of 17th Street. Then, he noticed smoke rising from a nearby condominium complex.

“The smoke was clearly visible,” said Bishop, 32, who filmed two Facebook Live videos from the scene.  Bishop said he saw an emergency vehicle, followed it to the complex, saw the flames, parked and filmed.

“I knew it was really bad; I figured somebody would want to see this,” Bishop said. “Thankfully no one was hurt.”

Photos by Gordon Radford

This story will be updated.

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