Photo by: WESH 2 News
More than 200 people have been evacuated from an apartment building just west of Orlando after a woman called 911 early Thursday morning when she couldn’t open her front door and heard popping sounds.
William Farhat, the division chief with Orange County Fire Rescue, said when crews arrived, they had to pry the woman’s door open and found structural instabilities in the building.
A portion of the building was evacuated at that time, Farhat said. Other doors also had to be pried open to free residents.
Crews found cracks inside.
The Rialto apartments are located on W. Sand Lake Road in Dr. Phillips. just west of Interstate 4.
The Orangetheory Fitness, which is part of a string of businesses attached to the apartments, said it had to cancel classes this morning for “building damage” in a story on Instagram.
Building inspectors had to be brought in and determined the entire building needed to be evacuated.
Farhat said they are working with VisitOrlando and The Red Cross to find hotel rooms for displaced residents.
It’s unclear if or when residents would be allowed back in. An engineer needs to look at the building, Farhat said.
Residents who live in the apartment building told WESH 2 they were evacuated and not given much information.
One woman said her cat was still in her apartment on the top floor.
Olivia Stephenson said she was told there’s structural damage and a few people needed to be rescued from the building.
Stephenson said she was told it could be hours or never as far as when she can go back in.
Another resident said there is a crack in the ceiling.
A woman told WESH 2 fire crews used an ax to pry her door open and free her. She lived below the woman who originally called 911.
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Source: wesh
